Structure and organization of the human Ki-ras proto-oncogene and a related processed pseudogene

Abstract

Analysis of the organization and nucleotide sequence of 2 human loci related to the transforming gene of Kirsten murine sarcoma virus establishes one as a functional gene and the other as a processed pseudogene. The 2 final coding exons of the functional gene seem to have arisen by duplication. Differentially spliced mRNA incororating one or other of the duplicated exons probably served as the intermediates by which the viral transforming gene and the pseudogene were generated. This suggests that the functional gene may specify either of 2 related polypeptides depending on the pattern of RNA splicing.