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. 1995 Mar 28;92(7):2607–2611. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.7.2607

Fate of a redundant gamma-globin gene in the atelid clade of New World monkeys: implications concerning fetal globin gene expression.

C M Meireles 1, M P Schneider 1, M I Sampaio 1, H Schneider 1, J L Slightom 1, C H Chiu 1, K Neiswanger 1, D L Gumucio 1, J Czelusniak 1, M Goodman 1
PMCID: PMC42267  PMID: 7535927

Abstract

Conclusive evidence was provided that gamma 1, the upstream of the two linked simian gamma-globin loci (5'-gamma 1-gamma 2-3'), is a pseudogene in a major group of New World monkeys. Sequence analysis of PCR-amplified genomic fragments of predicted sizes revealed that all extant genera of the platyrrhine family Atelidae [Lagothrix (woolly monkeys), Brachyteles (woolly spider monkeys), Ateles (spider monkeys), and Alouatta (howler monkeys)] share a large deletion that removed most of exon 2, all of intron 2 and exon 3, and much of the 3' flanking sequence of gamma 1. The fact that two functional gamma-globin genes were not present in early ancestors of the Atelidae (and that gamma 1 was the dispensible gene) suggests that for much or even all of their evolution, platyrrhines have had gamma 2 as the primary fetally expressed gamma-globin gene, in contrast to catarrhines (e.g., humans and chimpanzees) that have gamma 1 as the primary fetally expressed gamma-globin gene. Results from promoter sequences further suggest that all three platyrrhine families (Atelidae, Cebidae, and Pitheciidae) have gamma 2 rather than gamma 1 as their primary fetally expressed gamma-globin gene. The implications of this suggestion were explored in terms of how gene redundancy, regulatory mutations, and distance of each gamma-globin gene from the locus control region were possibly involved in the acquisition and maintenance of fetal, rather than embryonic, expression.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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