title: Strict conservation of the ITS regions of the ribosomal RNA genes in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.).
abstract: The nucleotide sequence of the internal transcribed region (ITS) of ribosomal RNA genes from Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) was determined. The complete ITS region spanned approximately 1113 base pairs. The ITS1 region comprised 532 base pairs, the 5.8S region 159, and the ITS2 region contained 422 base pairs. Sequence data were obtained from a total of 12 samples, one pool from six cod and 11 individuals. The sequencing was carried out in two separate experimental periods employing slightly different methodology. The samples were from two different cod stocks, Norwegian costal cod and North East Arctic cod. The sequence analysis showed that in the 12 samples, the ITS region, including the 5.8S RNA, was identical. The ITS region is thus totally conserved in these two cod stocks. The extreme conservation of the ITS regions in the cod rDNA could reflect the small genome size of cod and/or indicate a specific critical role in the processing of the ribosomal units in cold-adapted species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bergen, PO Box 7800, Bergen 5020, Norway.
authors.forename: Torild
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Repolho
authors.forename: Audny
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hellebø
authors.forename: Arnt J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Raae
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D048389:Gadus morhua / Q000235:genetics*; D016678:Genome; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer