cDNA clones that code for a pig and human flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) have been isolated. The full-length sequence of the human cDNAs revealed that they encode a polypeptide of 532 amino acid residues containing putative FAD- and NADP-binding sites. The deduced amino acid sequence has 88 and 86% identity, respectively, with the pig and rabbit "hepatic" forms of FMO, but is only 58% similar to the rabbit "pulmonary" FMO, and thus represents the human ortholog of the "hepatic" form of FMO. However, as this FMO is present in low abundance in human adult liver, the general term "hepatic" for this form of the enzyme is misleading, and thus we propose the name FMO1 to describe this human FMO and its mammalian orthologs. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that human FMO1 mRNA is more abundant in fetal than in adult liver, indicating that in man the enzyme is subject to developmental regulation. Southern blot hybridization of human genomic DNA suggests that the protein is encoded by a single gene, which has been designated FMO1 and mapped to chromosome 1.