This gene is a member of the beta-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase gene family. It is essential to the formation of Gal beta 1-3(GlcNAc beta 1-6)GalNAc structures and the core 2 O-glycan branch. The gene coding this enzyme was originally mapped to 9q21, but was later localized to 9q13. Multiple alternatively spliced variants, encoding the same protein, have been identified. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008].