Analysis of the β-globin Gene Family of Carp

Abstract

Five carp β-globin genes, Nos. 1β, 4β, 5β, 6β, and 7β, were found to be linked with their respectively numbered and previously described α-globin genes, Nos. 1α, 4α, 5α, 6α, and 7α, in a head-to-head manner. The structure of all five carp β-globin genes were found to be analogous to those of known vertebrate globin genes, i.e., they possess three exons, two intervening sequences (IVS), a sequence that corresponds to the consensus of a SP1 binding site, a CCAAT box, an ATA box, and a polyA signal. The five β-globin genes each included three open reading frames consisting of 444 base pairs encoding 148 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequences of the five β-globin genes were highly conserved, and were highly homologous with that of the known carp β-globin gene No. 3 (>95.3% similarities). This is the first report of six globin genes from an individual fish that have similar nucleotide sequences.