Acta Univ Latv (2003) 662: 67–79

A new approach to study the origin of genes and introns

Abstract

Eukariotic genomes have two main structural components – different types of repetitive nucleic acids and unique, at fi rst glance nonrepetitive sequences of gene coding parts. A new methodology of sequence analysis based on the structure of the second genetic code can be used to reveal molecular relics in protein and gene structures of tubulins and small G proteins. These are sequences formed of repeat units having identical regularity, as well as ancestral immobile introns distributed in the exon row with the same regularity. A new theory is advanced explaining exon and intron origin from common precursors – highly repetitive simple structure nucleic acids – during the early periods of evolution.