Complete nucleotide sequence of the chicken alpha A-crystallin gene and its 5' flanking region

The chicken alpha A-crystallin gene and 2.6 kb of its 5' flanking sequence have been isolated and characterized by electron microscopy and sequencing. The structural gene is 4.5 kb long and contains two introns, each approx. 1 kb in length. The first intron divides codons 63 and 64, and the second intron divides codons 104 and 105, as in rodents. There is little indication that the insert exon of rodents (an alternatively spliced sequence) is present in complete form in the chicken alpha A-crystallin gene; small stretches of similarity to this sequence were found throughout the gene. The 5' flanking sequence of the chicken alpha A-crystallin gene shows considerable sequence similarity with other mammalian alpha B-crystallin genes. In addition, one consensus sequence (GCAGCATGCCCTCCTAG) present in the 5' flanking region of the chicken alpha A-crystallin gene was found in the 5' flanking region of most reported crystallin genes.     

Mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene from Podospora anserina. A group IA intron with a putative alternative splice site

A 5 kb region of the 95 kb mitochondrial genome of Podospora anserina race s has been mapped and sequenced (1 kb = 10(3) base-pairs). This DNA region is continuous with the sequence for the ND4L and ND5 gene complex in the accompanying paper. We show that this sequence contains the gene for cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII). This gene is 4 kb in length and is interrupted by a subgroup IB intron (1267 base-pairs (bp) in length) and a subgroup IA intron (1992 bp in length). This group IA intron has a long open reading frame (ORF; 472 amino acid residues) discontinuous with the upstream exon sequence. A putative alternative splice site is present, which brings the ORF into phase with the 5' exon sequence. The 5'- and 3'-flanking regions of the COII gene contain G + C-rich palindromic sequences that resemble similar sequences flanking many Neurospora crassa mitochondrial genes.