Variant chromosomal arrangement of adult β-globin genes in rat

Abstract

The genomic organization of three haplotypes of β-globin genes was determined to resolve the question of the number of those genes in rat. Haplotype a, found in inbred strain DA, has three genes or pseudogenes, while haplotypes b, found in AO, Y5 and Wistar strains, and c, found in Wistar strain, have five genes or pseudogenes each. In haplotypes b and c, the first gene is of βmajor type and the remaining four are of βminir type. Partial sequencing of six out of 13 genes shows that duplications of βminor genes are causing polymorphism in a number of genes. Also, in haplotype b two βminor genes have a 6.5-kb intron 2, while in haplotype c only one βminor gene contains such a large intron 2. The three structurally different haplotypes described are not interconvertible by single recombination events. The results indicate that the rat has the highest number of adult β-globin genes found in mammals so far.