Characterization of the soluble guanylyl cyclase beta-subunit gene in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Genomic DNA corresponding to the soluble guanylyl cyclase beta-subunit (GCS beta) gene was cloned and sequenced from Anopheles gambiae. The sequence w as 8103 bp long and presumably included the entire coding region. The deduc ed amino acid sequence was 71% and 62% similar to previously known Drosophi la and vertebrate GCS beta, white the C-terminus of A. gambiae GCS beta was shorter. Because of the conserved characteristics in each functional domai n, the high G+C % in the third codon positions compared to the introns, the lack of internal stop codons, and the fact that we identified the gene fro m a cDNA, we conclude that this A. gambiae gene is functional. This is the first detailed description of a guanylyl cyclase gene structure (e.g. intro n-exon boundaries). Interestingly, within the fifth intron we found high si milarity to the flanking regions of the Pegasus-27 transposable element and other noncoding regions of the A. gambiae genome.