Abstract.
The β-globin gene cluster of Wistar rat was extensively cloned and the embryonic genes were mapped and sequenced. Four overlapping λ Dash recombinant clones cover about 31 kb and contain four nonadult β-globin genes, 5′–ε1–γ1–γ2–ψγ3–3′. The ε1 and γ2 are active genes, since their protein products were detected in the fetal stage of the rat (Iwahara et al., J Biochem 119:360–366, 1996). The γ1 locus might be a pseudogene, since the ATA box in the promoter region is mutated to GTA; however, no other defect is observed. The ψγ3 locus is a truncated pseudogene because a 19-base deletion, which causes a shift of the reading frame, is observed between the second nucleotide of the putative codon 68 and codon 76. A sequence comparison suggests that the ψγ3 might be produced by a gene conversion event of the proto-γ-globin gene set. Possible histories of the evolution of rat nonadult β-globin genes are discussed.
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Received: 6 August 1998 / Accepted: 12 February 1999
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Satoh, H., Inokuchi, N., Nagae, Y. et al. Organization, Structure, and Evolution of the Nonadult Rat β-Globin Gene Cluster. J Mol Evol 49, 122–129 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00006525
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00006525