THE SYMMETRICAL ARRANGEMENT OF CARP ALPHA-GLOBIN AND BETA-GLOBIN GENES

The arrangement of carp alpha- and beta-globin genes were examined at the nucleotide sequence level. Then, the nucleotide sequence of 1,249 base pairs (bp) for the 5' untranslated region of the carp beta-globin gene was determined. This region showed a high homology with the previously reported carp alpha-globin gene No. 7. The overall nucleotide sequence homology of these two clones was 96.7%. DNA sequencing analysis indicated that the alpha-globin gene closely linked the beta-globin gene. Additionally, the close linkage of carp alpha- and beta-globin genes was proven by Southern blot hybridization and PCR amplification. The direction of the transcription of the alpha- and beta-globin genes was the opposite. The length between the alpha- and beta-globin gene translation initiation site was 792 bp and the nucleotides of this region was high in of A and T contents. Carp alpha- and beta-globin genes show unique symmetrical arrangement.