Transfer of rice mitochondrial ribosomal protein L6 gene to the nucleus: acquisition of the 5'-untranslated region via a transposable element.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The mitochondria of contemporary organisms contain fewer genes than the ancestral bacteria are predicted to have contained. Because most of the mitochondrial proteins are encoded in the nucleus, the genes would have been transferred from the mitochondrion to the nucleus at some stage of evolution and they must have acquired cis-regulatory elements compatible with eukaryotic gene expression. However, most of such processes remain unknown.

Results

The ribosomal protein L6 gene (rpl6) has been lost in presently-known angiosperm mitochondrial genomes. We found that each of the two rice rpl6 genes (OsRpl6-1 and OsRpl6-2) has an intron in an identical position within the 5'-untranslated region (UTR), which suggests a duplication of the rpl6 gene after its transfer to th

SUBMITTER: Kubo N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2631504 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature