Mouse α -globin Genes and α -Globin-Like Pseudogenes are not Syntenic

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 78; no. 10; pp. 6362 - 6366
• Main Authors: Popp, Raymond A., Lalley, Peter A., Whitney, J. Barry, Anderson, W. French
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01-10-1981; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Line; Chromosomes; Chromosomes - analysis; Cricetinae; Cricetulus; DNA; Enzymes; Genes; Globins - genetics; Hybrid cells; Hybrid Cells - physiology; Hybridity; Liver - physiology; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Polymorphism, Genetic; Pseudogenes; Sodium; Somatic cells; Spleen - physiology; Spleen cells
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.78.10.6362

A genetic polymorphism for a Bgl I endonuclease site near the α -globin-like pseudogene α -4 of C57BL/6 and C3H/HeN mice was used to show that α -4 was not affected by three independent mutations in which the adult globin genes α -1 and α -2 were deleted. These results indicated that α -4 might not be located adjacent to the adult α -globin genes on chromosome 11. Restriction endonuclease analysis of DNA of a primary clone of a Chinese hamster-mouse somatic cell hybrid that had lost mouse chromosomes 11 and 18 showed that this clone lacked the adult murine globin genes α -1 and α -2 but it did contain the α -globin-like pseudogenes α -3 and α -4. These results indicated that the adult α -globin genes and α -globin-like pseudogenes are not located on the same chromosome. Similar analyses of several other Chinese hamster-mouse somatic cell hybrids that had segregated other mouse chromosomes indicated that the α -globin-like pseudogenes α -3 and α -4 are located on mouse chromosomes 15 and 17, respectively. These data explain why α -3 and α -4 were not affected by the three independently induced deletion-type mutations that cause α -thalassemia in the mouse.