A unique exon-intron organization of a porcine S100C gene: close evolutionary relationship to calmodulin genes

We found a unique exon-intron structure of the porcine S100C gene, a member of the S100 family, in which all other genes characterized to date have common exon-intron organization. The genomic DNA encoding the porcine S100C was cloned and the entire nucleotide sequence of the gene was analyzed. The gene is present as a single copy and consists of three exons and two introns with a total size of 5.3 kb. The first intron is located after the ATG translation initiation codon. Such an intron has never been found in other S100 genes, but is found in almost all calmodulin genes. The gene structural similarity suggests a close evolutionary relationship between the S100C gene and calmodulin genes.