Assignment of the human gene for uridine 5'-monophosphate phosphohydrolase (UMPH2) to the long arm of chromosome 17

Two distinct isozymes of uridine 5'-monophosphate phosphohydrolase (UMPH) have been identified in mammalian cells. Both of these isozymes hydrolyse other pyrimidine nucleotides. One of the isozymes, UMPH2, is more active against deoxy-nucleotides than non-deoxynucleotides and has a wider substrate specificity. We examined the segregation of the human gene for UMPH2 in human-mouse somatic cell hybrids. Electrophoretic analysis of UMPH2 in hybrids suggested that the enzyme is a dimer. Human UMPH2 cosegregated with the long arm of chromosome 17 in the nineteen hybrids examined. The ease of separation of the rodent and human isozymes of UMPH2 and the relative simplicity of the enzyme assay suggest that UMPH2 may be a more useful marker gene for chromosome 17 than galactokinase.