Gene structure of Taenia solium paramyosin

Paramyosin is a muscle protein that probably plays a role in the survival of the larval stage of Taenia solium during its prolonged host-parasite relationship. Here we describe the structure of the gene coding for the paramyosin of T. solium. The characterization of two clones obtained from a genomic library showed that the complete gene of paramyosin contains 13 introns delimited by conventional eukaryotic splice signals. Comparison with the paramyosin genes of Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans showed a lack of conservation of the exon/intron organization in contrast to other muscle genes. No evidence of alternative splicing sites were found, excluding the possibility that T. solium expresses a mini-paramyosin like D. melanogaster.