Structural organization of the human mitochondrial cytochrome c1 gene

The structural organization of the entire human nuclear encoded gene for mitochondrial cytochrome c1 was determined by analyzing a clone obtained from an EMBL3 genomic DNA library. The gene spans 2.4-kilobase pairs and contains seven exons interrupted by six introns of relatively small sizes. All intron/exon splice junctions follow the GT/AG rule. The 5'-flanking region of the gene lacks typical transcriptional regulatory sequence elements such as TATA and CAAT boxes but contains seven putative GC boxes (Sp1 binding sites) and several sequences that resemble another type of the Sp1 responsive element, the enhancer core consensus sequence, the AP-1 responsive element, and the cAMP- and phorbol ester-inducible element. The region also contains a 15-nucleotide sequence highly homologous to the AP-4 consensus sequence and to those in the 5'-flanking regions of the genes for two enzymes associated with respiratory function, the beta subunit of human ATP synthase and chicken 5-aminolevulinate synthase. The presequence, which is essential for the transport of the cytochrome c1 precursor into mitochondria, is encoded in both the first and second exons, and the nucleotide sequence corresponding to the presequence is separated by the first intron. This is the first example of a leader sequence coding for a presequence clearly separated into two parts by an intron.