title: How big is the universe of exons?
abstract: If genes have been assembled from exon subunits, the frequency with which exons are reused leads to an estimate of the size of the underlying exon universe. An exon database was constructed from available protein sequences, and homologous exons were identified on the basis of amino acid identity; statistically significant matches were determined by Monte Carlo methods. It is estimated that only 1000 to 7000 exons were needed to construct all proteins.
authors: Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
authors: R L
authors: RL
authors: Dorit
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Schoenbach
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Gilbert
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005091:Exons; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D013954:Thyroglobulin