The structure of the gene for subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase in Neurospora crassa mitochondria

Abstract

We have sequenced the gene for cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO I) in Neurospora crassa mitochondrial DNA. The gene is coded by the same strand as the rRNA and tRNA genes. The coding sequence predicts a protein of 557 amino acids, starting with methionine, and ending with asparagine. Comparison to the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the mature protein (Werner et al. 1980) reveals that the methionine is located at position -2. No other upstream AUG codons have been found in frame. The C-terminal part of the gene is about 70 basepairs longer than the corresponding parts of the Saccharomyces and mammalian genes. The homology between the Neurospora coding sequence and those of yeast and mammals is very high. As compared to Saccharomyces, the introns il through i5 are absent.