Summary
The histone H4 multigene family ofPhysarum polycephalum consists of two genes, H41 and H42. Both genes have an unusual structure in that they are interrupted by a small intron. The structure of theP. polycephalum H4 genes in discussed and compared to the structure of histone genes of other organisms. S1 nuclease analysis was used to map the 5′ and 3′ ends of the histone H4 messengers. We show that the histone H4 genes have a bybrid structure; they are interrupted variant histone sequence, as in replacement variant histone genes of higher eukaryotes, but their 5′ and 3′ non-coding regions have the properties of replicationdependent histone genes: the 5′ and 3′ leader and trailer sequences are short, possess a 3′-hyphenated dyad symmetry element, and a CAGA sequence is found 3′ to the hyphenated hairpin structure. this report also provides evidence that both genes are expressed in late G2 phase as well as in S phase and that their expression is temporally coordinated and quantitatively similar during the cell cycle.
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Wilhelm, M.L., Wilhelm, FX. Histone genes inPhysarum polycephalum: Transcription and analysis of the flanking regions of the two H4 genes. J Mol Evol 28, 322–326 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02103428
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02103428