title: The tubulin gene cluster of Trypanosoma brucei starts with an intact beta-gene and ends with a truncated beta-gene interrupted by a retrotransposon-like sequence.
abstract: In Trypanosoma brucei the genes coding for alpha- and beta-tubulin are arranged in a single cluster comprising about ten alternating alpha and beta genes. The cluster starts at its 5' end with an intact beta gene. In this area, a 1.1-kb segment upstream of the mini-exon addition site has been sequenced. Several potential transcription signals were seen. The 3' end of the cluster terminates in the middle of a beta gene, making it an inactive truncated pseudogene. The adjoining 1.7-kb sequence shows a high degree of similarity with a retrotransposon-like (RTnL) element previously characterized elsewhere in the trypanosome genome. This is the first report of an RTnL element interrupting a protein-coding gene of T. brucei.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Allgemeine Mikrobiologie, Universität Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Affolter
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rindisbacher
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Braun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D011544:Pseudogenes; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000235:genetics*; D014404:Tubulin / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D014404:Tubulin; D004247:DNA