title: Prevalence and distribution of introns in non-ribosomal protein genes of yeast.
abstract: Relatively few genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are known to contain intervening sequences. As a group, yeast ribosomal protein genes exhibit a higher prevalence of introns when compared to non-ribosomal protein genes. In an effort to quantify this bias we have estimated the prevalence of intron sequences among non-ribosomal protein genes by assessing the number of prp2-sensitive mRNAs in an in vitro translation assay. These results, combined with an updated survey of the GenBank DNA database, support an estimate of 2.5% for intron-containing non-ribosomal protein genes. Furthermore, our observations reveal an intriguing distinction between the distributions of ribosomal protein and non-ribosomal protein intron lengths, suggestive of distinct, gene class-specific evolutionary pressures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00936-5067.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Medina
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Rymond
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D017931:DNA Primers; D016208:Databases, Factual; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D011061:Poly A / Q000032:analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000378:metabolism; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017381:Spliceosomes
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D012322:RNA Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D011061:Poly A; C066490:PRP2 protein, S cerevisiae; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases