title: Structure of the rat argininosuccinate lyase gene: close similarity to chicken delta-crystallin genes.
abstract: Argininosuccinate lyase (EC 4.3.2.1) is an enzyme of arginine biosynthesis and is also involved in the urea cycle in the liver of ureotelic animals. A comparison of cDNA-derived amino acid sequences revealed that argininosuccinate lyase is highly homologous with chicken delta-crystallin, a major structural protein of the eye lens. The gene for the rat argininosuccinate lyase was cloned and its structure was determined. This gene is a single-copy gene about 14 kilobases long and is split into 16 exons. A comparison with chicken delta-crystallin genes revealed that all introns interrupt the protein-coding regions at homologous positions. This close similarity in structural organization provides strong evidence for the view of Piatigorsky et al. [Piatigorsky, J., O'Brien, W. E., Norman, B. L., Kalmuck, K., Wistow, G., Borras, T., Nickerson, J. M. & Wawrousek, E. F. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 3479-3483] that chicken delta 1- and delta 2-crystallin genes evolved by recruitment and duplication of the preexisting argininosuccinate lyase gene and that delta 2-crystallin is probably the direct homologue argininosuccinate lyase.
authors: Institute for Medical Genetics, Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Matsubasa
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Takiguchi
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Amaya
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Matsuda
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Mori
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001123:Argininosuccinate Lyase / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002645:Chickens; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003459:Crystallins / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D015342:DNA Probes; D005091:Exons; D007438:Introns; D008190:Lyases / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D051381:Rats; D015183:Restriction Mapping
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins; D015342:DNA Probes; D004247:DNA; D008190:Lyases; D001123:Argininosuccinate Lyase