A processed chicken pseudogene (Cpsl) related to the ras oncogene superfamily

Abstract

We describe the first polyA-containlng processed pseudogene reported in the chicken. It includes a 0.52 kb open reading frame which could encode a 175 amino acid protein. The putative protein shows extensive homology to the ras oncogene superfamily, being most closely related to the yeast protein YP2. ft 1s one of the two most divergent members of the ras superfamily yet described and is the most homologous of any ras-related protein to the G-protein a-transducln. The chicken genome contains at least one other gene highly homologous to CPS1; at least one member of the CPS1 family is active, but only early 1n chicken development. This pattern of expression, and the presence of mutations in regions known to activate human c-ras genes to oncogenicity, suggest that CPS1 may represent a new oncogene Family. © 1986 IRL Press Limited, Oxford, England.