Abstract
By investigations at the DNA and protein level, it has been shown that in sheep a previously detected, presumed quantitative allele of theIIα113His gene, displaying a reduced efficiency (called theIIα113His↓ gene), is carried by a chromosome bearing three α-globin loci. In particular, five sheep having an α113Leu/α113His-chain ratio of about 13:1 (13:1 phenotype) possessed the —Iα113Leu—IIα113Leu—/—Iα113Leu—IIα113Leu —IIIα113His↓ genotype. One sheep showing a α113Leu/α113His-chain ratio of about 3:1 (3:1 phenotype) had the —Iα113Leu—IIα113His—/—Iα113Leu—IIα113Leu —IIIα113His↓ genotype, while one sheep having a chain ratio of about 6:1 (6:1 phenotype) carried the —Iα113Leu—IIα113Leu—IIα113His↓—/—Iα113Leu—IIα113Leu —IIIα113His↓ genotype. Nineteen sheep, displaying the common phenotypes, all possessed the αα/αα gene arrangement. Furthermore, the possible location of the gene with reduced efficiency and the expression of the three genes in the triple α-globin loci chromosome are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dayhoff, M. O. (1972).Atlas of Protein Sequence and Structure, National Biomedical Research Foundation, Washington, D.C., pp. D-61, D-62.
Goossens, M., and Kan, Y. W. (1981). DNA analysis in the diagnosis of hemoglobin disorders.Methods Enzymol. 76805.
Harano, K., Harano, T., Kutlar, F., and Huisman, T. H. J. (1985). γ-Globin gene triplication and quadruplication in Japanese newborns.FEBS Lett. 19045.
Hill, A. V. S., Bowden, D. K., Weatherall, D. J., and Clegg, J. B. (1986). Chromosome with one, two, three, and four fetal globin genes: Molecular and hematologic analysis.Blood 671611.
Huisman, T. H. J., Dozy, A. M., Wilson, J. B., Efremov, G. D., and Vaskov, B. (1968). Sheep hemoglobin D, an α-chain variant with one apparent amino acid substitution (α15Gly → Asp).Biochim. Biophys. Acta 160467.
Masina, P., Rando, A., and Cocozza, S. (1984). Restriction fragment length polymorphism in the 3′ flanking region of the rabbit β1-globin gene.Biochem. Genet. 22883.
Proudfoot, N. J. (1986). Transcriptional interference and termination between duplicated α-globin gene constructs suggests a novel mechanism for gene regulation.Nature 322562.
Rando, A., Ramunno, L., and Masina, P. (1986). Variation in the number of α-globin loci in sheep.Mol. Biol. Evol. 3168.
Schon, E. A., Wernke, S. M., and Lingrel, J. B. (1982). Gene conversion of two functional goat α-globin genes preserves only minimal flanking sequences.J. Biol. Chem. 2576825.
Vestri, R., and Salmaso, S. (1981). Further evidence supporting the hypothesis of the duplication of the hemoglobin α-chain locus in sheep.Biochem. Genet. 19895.
Vestri, R., Crema, A., Marinucci, M., Giordano, P. C., and Bernini, L. F. (1980). Possible duplication of the hemoglobin α chain locus in sheep.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 625328.
Vestri, R., Salmaso, S., Condò, S. G., and Antonini, E. (1981). Distribution and respiratory properties of sheep hemoglobins A and B containing theIIαHis chain.Hemoglobin 5(4391.
Vestri, R., Giordano, P. C., and Bernini, L. F. (1983a). Duplication of the hemoglobin α-chain gene in sheep: characterization of a new α-chain variant present in animals possessing the αLeu and theIIαHis chains.Biochem. Genet. 2125.
Vestri, R., Giordano, P. C., and Bernini, L. F. (1983b). Different quantitative expression of the hemoglobin α-chain genes in sheep.Biochem. Genet. 211089.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported in part by grants from the CNR (No. 84.01791.04) and Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vestri, R., Masina, P., Rando, A. et al. Triplication of α-globin genes is responsible for unusual α113Leu/α113His-globin chain ratios in sheep. Biochem Genet 25, 611–620 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00556206
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00556206