Assignment of the CALC-A/alpha-CGRP gene (CALCA) to porcine chromosome SSC2p13-->p11 by fluorescence in situ hybridization and by analysis of somatic cell and radiation hybrid panels.

Calcitonin and ·-CGRP are products of the alternatively spliced gene CALCA. Calcitonin (CALC) mRNA is predominantly found in thyrodial C cells and mRNA encoding the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in neural tissues (Amara et al., 1982, Rosenfeld et al., 1983). In vivo, calcitonin reduces serum calcium and acts as an antagonist to the parathyroid hormone. The human CALC-A/·-CGRP gene stretches over 7.5 kb and consists of six exons (Steenbergh et al., 1986, Broad et al., 1989). CALCA and CALCB, the pseudogene CALCP, and the gene encoding the islet amyloid polypeptide IAPP are members of the calcitonin/CGRP family. Human CALCA, CALCB, and CALCP have been assigned to chromosome HSA11p15.2→p15.1 (Hoovers et al., 1993). Here we report the localization of the porcine CALC-A/·-CGRP gene to chromosome 2 confirming homology between the p arms of chromosomes HSA11 and SSC2. Materials and methods