Non-canonical GA and GG 5' Intron Donor Splice Sites Are Common in the Copepod Eurytemora affinis

The non-canonical 5' intron donor splice sites GA and GG are exceedingly rare in described eukaryotic genomes, however they are present in approximately 12% of introns in the genome of the copepod Eurytemora affinis. Failure to recognize the high frequency of these donor sites compromised the modeling of genes in this newly sequenced genome, including ten conserved ionotropic glutamate receptor family genes curated herein. These introns appear to have been acquired recently, along with many additional idiosyncratic introns. Their high frequency implies the evolution of modified intron donor splice site recognition in this copepod.

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