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PMID: 2476655 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

The intron of a plastid gene from a green alga contains an open reading frame for a reverse transcriptase-like enzyme.

Molecular & general genetics : MGG ·Vol. 218 ·No. 2 ·1989-08-00 ·Pages 257-65

Kück U

Abstract

Plastid (pt) and mitochondrial (mt) DNA were isolated from the unicellular green alga KS3/2, which is presumed to be a species of the genera Ankistrodesmus or Monoraphidium. The DNA species are characterized by their different densities (pt, 1.685 g/ml; mt, 1.695 g/ml), individual restriction patterns, and their respective sizes of 130 and 47 kb. Using an intronic sequence from fungal mitochondria as a hybridization probe, intron sequences from mtDNA and from ptDNA were identified. DNA sequencing of the cloned ptDNA intron revealed that the plastid gene for subunit IV of the cytochrome b6/f petD complex is interrupted by a group II intron of unusual length (3533 bp). This was confirmed by transcript analysis. The intron encodes an open reading frame (ORF) which shows significant homology with reverse transcriptase genes from various genetic elements. This discovery is unique for plastomes and indicates that introns, retrotransposons, insertion elements and retroviruses may have a common evolutionary origin.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Base Sequence Blotting, Northern Chlorophyta/genetics DNA/genetics,isolation & purification DNA, Fungal/genetics DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics Electrophoresis Genes Introns Molecular Sequence Data Nucleic Acid Hybridization Organelles RNA/genetics,isolation & purification RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase/genetics Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid Transcription, Genetic
Chemicals
DNA, Fungal DNA, Mitochondrial RNA DNA RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase
Authors & Affiliations
1 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Kück U
Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine Botanik, Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany.
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Article Info
Journal
Molecular & general genetics : MGG
Abbr.
Mol Gen Genet
ISSN
0026-8925
DOI
10.1007/BF00331276
Published
1989-08-00
Pages
257-65
Language
English
Region
Germany
NLM ID
0125036
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1007/BF00331276
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