Nucleic Acids Research, 2000, Vol. 28, No. 14 2800-2803
© 2000 Oxford University Press
The unusual gene organization of Leishmania major chromosome 1 may reflect novel transcription processes
1Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, 4 Nickerson Street, Seattle, WA 98109-1653, USA and 2Department of Pathobiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
The complete chromosomal sequence for chromosome 1 from Leishmania major Friedlin predicts that this chromosome has 79 protein-coding genes. Surprisingly, the first 29 of these genes are encoded in tandem on one strand of DNA, and the remaining 50 genes are encoded in tandem on the other. No RNA polymerase promoters, centromeric sequences or origins of DNA replication have been identified in the DNA sequence. Statistical analyses of the nucleotide content reveal striking, non-random, sequence-biases that are correlated with genome organization. Analysis of coding regions suggests that novel transcription processes in Leishmania may be responsible for the nucleotide bias, which in turn affects gene organization in the chromosome. These results also suggest that the region between the two units of in-tandem genes is a candidate for an origin of DNA replication.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, 4 Nickerson Street, Seattle, WA 98109-1653, USA. Tel: +1 206 284 8846; Fax: +1 206 284 0313; Email: kstuart@u.washington.edu
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