Objective   To explore the structure of ribosomal protein S7 (RPS7) gene of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and investigate its homologies with other already reported sequences

including Homo sapiens

Mus musculus

Rattus norvegicus and Bos taurus.    Methods   The cDNA of RPS7 was cloned from the giant panda by RT-PCR.The sequence data were analyzed by GenScan software. Blast 2.1 was used to study the homology of the obtained RPS7 sequence with the gene sequ

ences of other species; Open reading frame (ORF) of the DNA sequence was searched using ORF finder software; Protein structure of the RPS7 sequence cloned was deduced using Predict Protein software.    Results   The full length of the sequence fragment was 589 bp containing an ORF of 585 bp. The deduced protein sequence showed that the protein was composed of 194 amino acids and its estimated molecular weight was 22.126 85×10

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with a pI of 10.09. There were 7 different patterns of functional sites: one N-glycosylation site; two cAMP and cGMP-dependent kinase phosphorylation sites; four casein kinase C phosphorylation sites; one casein kinase Ⅱ phosphorylation site; two N-myristoylation sites; two amidation sites and one ribosomal protein S7e signature site in the RPS7 protein. Further analysis indicated that the sequence of RPS7 and the protein encoded were highly homologous to some mammals reported.    Conclusion   The complete coding sequence of RPS7 gene has been cloned through RT-PCR successfully

which is the first report on the RPS7 gene from the giant panda.