The primary structure of chicken B-creatine kinase and evidence for heterogeneity of its mRNA.

cDNA clones for chicken B-CK were isolated by immunoscreening from a gizzard cDNA library constructed in the expression vector lambda gtll. The entire coding portion in addition to the complete 3' untranslated region and 42 bp of the 5' noncoding part are represented in the clone H4. On RNA blots H4 insert DNA hybridized to a 1600 bp poly(A)+ RNA from gizzard, brain and heart but not to breast or skeletal muscle RNA. In vitro generated sense strand transcripts of H4 insert DNA were translated in vitro into a protein indistinguishable from isolated, authentic B-CK. The distinct nucleotide sequences of H4 insert DNA and M-CK cDNA were translated into 82% homologous amino acid sequences. Sequence heterogeneity among the B-CK cDNA clones within both the 3' noncoding and even in the coding region indicates the existence of multiple B-CK mRNA species.