Determination of the functional domain of a mouse autonomous replicating sequence.

We previously isolated from mouse cells an autonomous replicating sequence (ARS) ARS65 (Ariga, Itani and Iguchi-Ariga, Mol. Cell. Biol. 7, 1-6, 1987). Here we report the nucleotide sequence of ARS65. The sequence from BgIII to EcoRI sites cloned as ARS was 2658 bp long. There exist three interesting domains: a TA repeat, a myc like box (essential sequence for c-myc ARS), and a T rich region. Cloned DNAs containing various segments of pARS65 were transfected to rat 3Y1 cells together with the hygromycinB resistance expression vector, and hygromycinB resistant clones were isolated. Established cell lines transfected with plasmids carrying either a myc-like box or a T rich region harbored the replicated plasmids, indicating that these two elements are necessary for the ARS function of pARS65.