title: Origin of genes encoding multi-enzymatic proteins in eukaryotes.
abstract: In several biosynthetic pathways of eukaryotes, multiple steps are catalyzed by enzymes physically linked as domains of multi-enzymatic proteins. The same steps in prokaryotes are frequently carried out by mono-enzymatic proteins. If genes encoding mono-enzymatic proteins are the precursors to those genes encoding multi-enzymatic proteins, how these genes fused remains an open question. However, the recent discovery of a cleavage-polyadenylation signal within an intron of the GART gene provides clues to this process and might also have more general implications for the origin of genes that contain alternative RNA processing reactions at their 5' or 3' ends.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lucille P. Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40536, USA. jndavid@pop.uky.edu
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004798:Enzymes / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012326:RNA Splicing
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes