In order to extend knowledge of the process of cornification across species and to be better able to recognize inborn errors in keratin synthesis in the dog, we describe the organization and chromosome mapping of canine KRT1 and KRT2E and compare these results to human and murine sequence data. The coding regions of KRT1 and KRT2E are 1,860 bp and 1,902 bp respectively, distributed over nine exons. Both genes are localized on the canine radiation hybrid map to chromosome 27 in the type II keratin gene cluster close to polymorphic markers. These genes are highly conserved across species and based on both genomic and amino acid sequences, canine KRT1 and KRT2E share greater homology with humans than with mice.
Copyright 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.