Genetics and ontogeny of aldehyde dehydrogenase isozymes in the mouse: Localization of Ahd-1 encoding the mitochondrial isozyme on chromosome 4

Electrophoretic variants for the mitochondrial isozyme of aldehyde dehydrogenase (AHD) have been observed in inbred strains and in Harwell linkage testing stocks of Mus musculus. F₁ (LVC×C57BL/Go) mice showed a codominant allele three-banded phenotype, which suggests a dimeric subunit structure (designated AHD-A₂). The anodal-migrating supernatant isozyme of AHD was electrophoretically invariant among the 23 inbred strains and stocks examined. The genetic locus encoding AHD-A₂ (suggested name Ahd-1) is localized on chromosome 4 and was mapped close to je (jerker) and Gpd-1 (encoding the liver and kidney isozyme of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase). Ontogenetic analyses demonstrated that both AHD isozymes exhibited low activity in late fetal and early neonatal liver and kidney extracts, and reached adult levels within 3 weeks of birth.