The organization of repetitive sequences in the albumin and alpha-fetoprotein gene loci in the rat

The distribution of middle repetitive sequences in the genic and extragenic regions of the rat albumin and α-fetoprotein genes was analyzed. Their presence was determined by probing Southern blots of restriction fragments of albumin and α-fetoprotein genomic subclones with 32P-labeled total rat DNA. Repetitive sequences were detected in both genes. They were classified as weak, moderate and intense hybridizing elements according to the intensity of hybridization. Weak repetitive sequences were characterized as dG·dT repeats by using 32P-labeled poly-(dG·dT)(dC·dA) oligomer probe. They occurred in 5′ and 3′ extragenic regions of the two genes and in introns 4 and 5 of the albumin gene. The moderate repetitive sequence present in intron 6 of the albumin gene was identified as the rat SINES element, 4D12. The intense repetitive sequence, localized in the 3′ non-coding region of the albumin gene, corresponded to the terminal segment of a rat high repeat long interspersed DNA family, L1Rn. 4D12 and L1Rn sequences were also scattered throughout the α-fetoprotein locus as moderate and intense repetitive elements, respectively, but their distribution was different from that of the albumin genomic region. These results indicate that repetitive sequences invaded the two loci in a non-conservative manner.