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Structure and organization of the cardiotoxin genes in Naja naja sputatrix 1
Author(s) -
Lachumanan Ramkumar,
Armugam Arunmozhiarasi,
Tan Chee-Hong
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(98)00894-1
Subject(s) - cardiotoxin , gene isoform , exon , gene , intron , biology , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , regeneration (biology)
We report the genomic structure, organization and the presence of multiple isoforms of the gene encoding cardiotoxins (CTX) of Naja naja sputatrix . The cardiotoxin gene consists of six CTX isoforms, each (2.2 kb) having three exons and two introns. Two possible transcription initiation sites as well as consensus TATA boxes and transcription factor binding motifs, AP‐2, NFIL‐6/C/EBP, NF‐κB and PuF have been identified in the 5′‐region of the gene. The CTX gene isoforms show nucleotide variations at specific segments in exon 2 and exon 3, which correspond to the functional domains in the three‐finger loop structure of the cardiotoxin molecule. The diverse functions of cardiotoxins together with our findings suggest that the cardiotoxin gene isoforms may have evolved under adaptive pressure through a positive Darwinian selection process.