The largemouth bass cytochrome b gene

The cytochrome b gene is one of the protein‐coding genes of the mitochondrial genome that has gained importance because of the ease with which molecular techniques can be applied to the analysis of its structure. The nucleotide sequence of the largemouth bass (Microplerus salmoides) cytochrome b gene was determined and the inferred amino acid structure is presented in the form of a structural model derived originally from rat cytochrome b. The inferred amino acid sequences from divergent animal species are aligned and compared in the context of this model. The data suggest that regions of the gene may be evolving at different rates due to different selection pressures associated with functional constraints. Conserved and variable regions of cytochrome b have been identified and can be targeted for species identification, the examination of intraspeciflc variation, and phylogenetic reconstructions in future research.