Distinct organization of methylcholanthrene- and phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome P-450 genes in the rat.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the methylcholanthrene-inducible cytochrome P-450c gene was determined by sequence analysis of cloned genomic DNA and the sequence, consisting of 524 amino acids, of the protein was deduced therefrom. The gene for the cytochrome was approximately 6.0 kilobases long and was split into seven exons. Comparison of the gene with that of the phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome P-450e showed that the gene structures for the two types of cytochrome P-450 differ greatly; the location, number, and size of intervening sequences are very dissimilar. However, the sequence homology between the two types of cytochrome suggests that the two genes have evolved from a common ancestor.