title: Comparative analysis of the alpha-like globin clusters in mouse, rat, and human chromosomes indicates a mechanism underlying breaks in conserved synteny.
abstract: We have sequenced and fully annotated a 65,871-bp region of mouse Chromosome 17 including the Hba-ps4 alpha-globin pseudogene. Comparative sequence analysis with the functional alpha-globin loci at human Chromosome 16p13.3 and mouse Chromosome 11 shows that this segment of mouse Chromosome 17 contains a group of three alpha-like pseudogenes (Hba-psm-Hba-ps4-Hba-q3), similar to the duplicated sets found at the functional mouse cluster on Chromosome 11. In addition, exons 7 to 12 of the mLuc7L gene are present just downstream from the pseudogene cluster, indicating that this clone contains the region in which human 16p13.3 switches in synteny between mouse Chromosomes 11 and 17. Comparison of the sequences around the alpha-like clusters on the two mouse chromosomes reveals the presence of conserved tandem repeats. We propose that these repetitive elements have played a role in the fragmentation of the mouse alpha cluster during evolution.
authors.affiliation: MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tufarelli
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hardison
authors.forename: Webb
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Nicki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ventress
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Frischauf
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Higgs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics*; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics*; D006441:Hemoglobin A / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D011544:Pseudogenes / Q000235:genetics; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D026801:Synteny / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C426524:LUC7L protein, human; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D005914:Globins; D006441:Hemoglobin A