ORGANIZATION OF HUMAN PHOSPHOLIPID TRANSFER PROTEIN GENE

We have determined the exon/intron organization of the human phospholi pid transfer protein gene. The gene, which spans approximately 13.3 ki lobases, is comprised of 16 exons. The organization of the phospholipi d transfer protein gene strikingly resembles that encoding another pla sma lipid transfer protein, the human cholesterol ester transfer prote in. The exon-intron junctions in these two genes are highly conserved, with eight out of fifteen junctions interrupting the same codons, whi le the remaining junctions lie within 5 residues of each other. The si milarity in gene structure and homology in coding sequences suggests t hat these two genes most likely evolved from a common ancestral gene. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.