The gene structure of bovine adrenodoxin reductase, a component of the mitochondrial steroid hydroxylating system in the adrenal cortex, was determined. When we screened a bovine genomic DNA library, using bovine adrenodoxin reductase cDNA as a probe, we isolated 10 genomic clones covering a continuous 30 kilobase (kb) region of bovine chromosomal DNA in which the adrenodoxin reductase gene spanned approximately 12 kb. The adrenodoxin reductase gene consisted of 12 exons and all the donor and acceptor sites of the exon/intron junction followed the GT/AG rule. The transcription initiation site was found to be 79 bases upstream of the translation initiation site by primer extension analysis and putative CAAT and GC boxes, but no typical TATA box, were present in the 5'-flanking region. The 5'-flanking region of this gene showed several features characteristic of promoters of house-keeping genes. The CCAGGG sequence present in the 5'-flanking region of genes for adrenodoxin and the steroid hydroxylating cytochromes P-450 in the adrenal cortex was present 13 base upstream from the transcription initiation site. We analyzed the promoter activity of the 5'-upstream region of this gene, using as a reporter the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene. The region between position -757 to -376 was proved necessary for expression of this gene in mouse Y-1 tumor cells. Adrenocorticotropin did not enhance the expression of this bovine gene in the cells.