Polycistronic transcripts are common in prokaryotes but rare in eukaryotes. Phylogenetic analysis of the SNRPN (SmN) mRNA in five eutherian mammals reveals a second highly conserved coding sequence, termed SNURF (SNRPN upstream reading frame). The vast majority of nucleotide substitutions in SNURF occur in the wobble codon position, providing strong evolutionary evidence for selection for prote...

A gene encoding a putative human RNA helicase, p54, has been cloned and mapped to the band q23.3 of chromosome 11. The predicted amino acid sequence shares a striking homology (75% identical) with the female germline-specific RNA helicase ME31B gene of Drosophila. Unlike ME31B, however, the new gene expresses an abundant transcript in a large number of adult tissues and its 5' non-coding region...

RNA transcribed from the human epsilon globin gene was studied in K562 cells and human embryos of 5-10 weeks gestation. Using both primer extension and S1 analysis RNA molecules were found which extend 53 +/- 1 bp, 55 +/- 1 bp and 270 +/- 1 bp upstream from the first coding base and are colinear with the gene. The first pair of molecules represent transcripts initiating at the canonical cap sit...

Transcription factors are important gene regulators with distinctive roles in development, cell signaling and cell cycling, and they have been associated with many diseases. The ConTra v2 web server allows easy visualization and exploration of predicted transcription factor binding sites in any genomic region surrounding coding or non-coding genes. In this new version, users can choose from nin...

The mechanism underlying the functions of non-protein coding RNAs (ncRNAs or npcRNAs) that have no or little protein-coding potential is a fascinating area of research [1]. Based on transcript length, ncRNAs are classified as short (<200 nt) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs; >200 nt). The recent high-throughput analysis such as cDNA/EST in silico mining, whole-genome tilling array and RNA-sequencing (R...

The DHA sequence of Escherichia coll aceB encoding malate synthase A has been determined(1). Shown is the coding region of aceB flanked by the Cterminal region of an upstream open reading frame and the N-terminal coding region of the adjacent aceA gene (2). The transcription start site is shown by an asterisk and the -10 and -35 site of the promoter are marked and underlined (3). Sequences simi...

The nucleotide sequence of the coding and regulatory regions of the ca-amylase gene (aml) of Streptomyces limosus was determined. High-resolution Si mapping was used to locate the 5' end of the transcript and demonstrated that the gene is transcribed from a unique promoter. The predicted amino acid sequence has considerable identity to mammalian and invertebrate ca-amylases, but not to those of...

We have characterized a nuclear mutation, mda1-ncc1, that affects mRNA stability for the atpA gene cluster in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas. Unlike all nuclear mutations altering chloroplast gene expression described to date, mda1-ncc1 is a dominant mutation that still allows accumulation of detectable amounts of atpA mRNAs. At variance with the subset of these mutations that affect mRNA sta...

Tinkering with pre-existing genes has long been known as a major way to create new genes. Recently, however, motherless protein-coding genes have been found to have emerged de novo from ancestral non-coding DNAs. How these genes originated is not well addressed to date. Here we identified 24 hominoid-specific de novo protein-coding genes with precise origination timing in vertebrate phylogeny. ...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors of transcription factors composed of three family members: PPARα, PPARβ/δ and PPARγ. This study was aimed to evaluate the role of PPARs in the estradiol production via follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in the ovine Sertoli cells. At the first step, transcripts of PPARα, PPARβ /δ and PPARγ were evaluated by quantitative r...