A nascent micronuclear pseudogene in the ciliate Euplotes crassus

The macronuclear genome of Euplotes crassus contains two different genes, EFA1 and EFA2, encoding EF-1alpha proteins. They are derived from micronuclear precursors in the course of a sexual process termed conjugation. We have found that two apparent micronuclear precursors exist for EFA1. They differ in their potential coding sequences and in the internal sequences interrupting the genes, which are normally removed during the processing from micronuclear into macronuclear genes. One of these genes is not processed into a macronuclear gene and has accumulated C-->T transitions in a limited section of the coding region. The gene obviously constitutes a recent duplication which has lost its ability to be processed into a macronuclear gene and has therefore become a micronuclear pseudogene. The true EFA1 precursor harbours a novel type of internal sequence in addition to a classical AT-rich IES. As usual, only one micronuclear EFA2 precursor gene was found. Its coding sequence is interrupted by a 79 bp TeIIES.