Compartmentalized isozyme genes and the origin of introns (original) (raw)

Summary

Both the mouse cytosolic malate dehydrogenase gene and its mitochondrial counterpart contain eight introns, of which two are present at identical positions between the isozyme genes. The probability that the two intron positions coincide by chance between the two genes has been shown to be significantly small (=1.3×10−3), suggesting that the conservation of the intron positions has a biological significance. On the basis of a rooted phylogenetic tree inferred from a comparison of these isozymes and lactate dehydrogenases, we have shown that the origins of the conserved introns are very old, possibly going back to a date before the divergence of eubacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes. In the aspartate aminotransferase isozyme genes, five of the introns are at identical places. The origins of the five conserved introns, however, are not obvious at present. It remains possible that some or all of the conserved introns have evolved after the divergence of eubacteria and eukaryotes.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, 812, Fukuoka, Japan
   Naoyuki Iwabe, Kei-ichi Kuma & Takashi Miyata
2. The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, 4-6-7 Minami-Azabu, Minato-Ku, 106, Tokyo, Japan
   Hirohisa Kishino & Masami Hasegawa

Authors

1. Naoyuki Iwabe
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2. Kei-ichi Kuma
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3. Hirohisa Kishino
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4. Masami Hasegawa
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5. Takashi Miyata
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Iwabe, N., Kuma, Ki., Kishino, H. et al. Compartmentalized isozyme genes and the origin of introns.J Mol Evol 31, 205–210 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109497

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• Received: 28 September 1989
• Revised: 10 April 1990
• Issue Date: September 1990
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109497

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