Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 5, 486-498, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
JF Cheng and RC Hardison
The alpha-like globin gene cluster in rabbits contains embryonic zeta-
globin genes, an adult alpha-globin gene, and theta-globin genes of
undetermined function. The basic arrangement of genes, deduced from
analysis of cloned DNA fragments, is 5'-zeta 0-zeta 1-alpha 1-theta 1- zeta
2-zeta 3-theta 2-3'. However, the pattern of restriction fragments
containing zeta- and theta-globin genes varies among individual rabbits.
Analysis of BamHI fragments of genomic DNA from 24 New Zealand white
rabbits revealed eight different patterns of fragments containing
zeta-globin genes. The large BamHI fragments containing genes zeta 0 and
zeta 1 are polymorphic in length, whereas a 1.9-kb fragment containing the
zeta 2 gene and the 3.5-kb fragment containing the zeta 3 gene do not vary
in size. In contrast to this constancy in the size of the restriction
fragments, the copy number of the zeta 2 and zeta 3 genes does vary among
different rabbits. No length polymorphism was detected in the BamHI
fragments containing the theta-globin genes, but again the copy number
varies for restriction fragments containing the theta 2 gene. The alpha 1-
and theta 1-globin genes are located in a nonpolymorphic 7.2-kb BamHI
fragment. The combined data from hybridization with both zeta and theta
probes shows that the BamHI cleavage pattern does not vary within the
region 5'-alpha 1-theta 1- zeta 2-zeta 3-theta 2-3', but the pattern
genomic blot-hybridization patterns for the progeny of parental rabbits
with different zeta-globin gene patterns shows that the polymorphic
patterns are inherited in a Mendelian fashion. Two different haplotypes
have been mapped based on the genomic blot-hybridization data. The
variation in the alpha-like globin gene cluster in the rabbit population
results both from differences in the copy number of the duplication block
containing the zeta-zeta-theta gene set and from the presence or absence of
polymorphic BamHI sites.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The rabbit alpha-like globin gene cluster is polymorphic both in the sizes of BamHI fragments and in the numbers of duplicated sets of genes
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?