Structure of the pro alpha 2 (I) collagen gene.

Fifty-four kilobase pairs (kbp) of cloned chicken DNA containing the entire 38-kbp pro alpha 2 (I) collagen gene have been isolated and characterized. DNA sequence analysis of a select 4 kbp of the gene has precisely described 14 exons which comprise one-third of the sequences encoding the triple-helical domain of the collagen protein. These exons range in size from 45 to 108 base pairs (bp), are all multiples of the 9 bp that code for the repeating triplet, Gly-X-Y, and have an average size of 70 bp. About 50 introns interrupt this gene. Nevertheless, introns do not separate the coding sequences for the ends of the central triple-helical structural domain and the ends of the propeptide domains.