Open AccessThe self-splicing intron in theNeurosporaapocytochrome b gene contains a long reading frame in frame with the upstream exon
Author(s) -
Richard A. Collins,
Catherine A. Reynolds,
Joan E. Olive
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
nucleic acids research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 9.008
H-Index - 537
eISSN - 1362-4954
pISSN - 0305-1048
DOI - 10.1093/nar/16.3.1125
Subject(s) - intron , biology , orfs , open reading frame , exon , genetics , rna splicing , gene , group ii intron , rna , microbiology and biotechnology , peptide sequence
We have determined the DNA sequence of intron 1 and flanking exons in the mitochondrial apocytochrome b gene of the Neurospora laboratory strain 74A and the natural isolate North Africa. In contrast to a previous report, we find that this intron contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 951 bases in frame with the upstream exon. The putative intron-encoded protein resembles those of other intron ORFs with respect to length, calculated isoelectric point, and proportion of basic, acidic, polar, and non-polar amino acids; however, no amino acid sequences resembling the "decapeptides" characteristic of maturase-like ORFs were found. Coupled with the previous finding that this intron is capable of self-splicing in vitro in the absence of proteins, the observations discussed here raise the possibility that other introns with long, in-frame ORFs may also be capable of RNA-catalyzed splicing in vitro.