• 1 September 1988
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 43  (3) , 249-256
Abstract
We have located a highly polymorphic region of DNA approximately 100 kb upstream of the human .alpha.-globin genes (the .alpha.-globin 5'' hypervariable region; 5''HVR). The element responsible is a minisatellite sequence comprising a variable copy number tandem repeat array of a G/Crich 57-bp sequence. This increases the number of minisatellite elements in the vicinity of the .alpha.-globin genes to five, all of which share a region of sequence identity, thus raising questions concerning the distribution and origins of such tandem repeat sequences . The 5''HVR is highly polymorphic and, together with other hypervariable regions at this locus, provides a valuable genetic marker on the short arm of chromosome 16.