Isolation and characterization of the porcine growth hormone gene

A cosmid clone containing the entire porcine growth hormone (PGH) gene has been isolated using a full-length PGH cDNA as the hybridization probe. The gene within the cosmid was subcloned into plasmids and completely sequenced. The coding, promoter, and both 5'- and 3'-noncoding sequences of the PGH gene were found to be highly conserved when compared to the previously sequenced genes coding for rat, human and bovine growth hormones, and also to the human placental lactogen gene. The high degree of conservation between the 5'- and 3'-noncoding regions of the genes from these different species indicates that growth hormone genes may be evolving by some unusual mechanism. The PGH gene was found to contain the unusual variant GC donor splice site.