Abstract
In several biosynthetic pathways of eukaryotes, multiple steps are catalyzed by enzymes physically linked as domains of multi-enzymatic proteins. The same steps in prokaryotes are frequently carried out by mono-enzymatic proteins. If genes encoding mono-enzymatic protein are the precursors to those genes encoding multi-enzymatic proteins, how these genes fused remains an open question. However, the recent discovery of a cleavage-polyadenylation signal within an intron of the GART gene provides clues to this process and might also have more general implications for the origin of genes that contain alternative RNA processing reactions at their 5' or 3' ends.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 281-285 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Trends in Genetics |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs |
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State | Published - Jul 1997 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work is supported by grants MC&9418413 (J.N.D.1 and MCB-9507513 (M.L.P) from the National Science Foundation and by grant GM47644 (J.N.D.) from the National Institutes of Heakh, and is dedicated to the pioneering work of Walter Gilbert.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics