Analysis of a 26 kb region on the left arm of yeast chromosome XV.

In the framework of the EC programme for sequencing yeast chromosome XV, we have determined the nucleotide sequence of a 26 kb region. Subsequent analysis revealed 13 non-overlapping open reading frames, three of which correspond to known yeast genes. A pair of tRNA genes associated with remnant Ty elements were localized in this region. From structural parameters and/or similarity searches with entries in the current data libraries, a preliminary functional assessment of several of the putative novel gene products can be made. The gene density in this region amounts to one gene in 2 kb. Protein coding regions occupy 61% of the total DNA sequence. Within the intergenic regions, potential regulatory elements can be predicted. The data obtained here may serve as a basis for a more detailed biochemical analysis of the novel genes. The complete nucleotide sequence of the 26 kb segment as depicted in Figure 1 has been deposited at the EBI data library under Accession Number X91067.

The human immunoglobulin kappa locus. Characterization of the duplicated O regions.

Two large regions of the human immunoglobulin kappa locus, the so-called O regions, have been characterized on cosmid and phage lambda clones. The two regions are very similar but not identical duplicates belonging to the C kappa proximal (p) and the distal (d) copies of the kappa locus. The Op and Od regions comprise contigs of 90 and 120 kb, respectively, and contain 20 V kappa genes and pseudogenes which have been sequenced. Three pairs of V kappa genes were found to be practically identical in the duplicates while allotypic differences, at least for two of the genes, are considerable. The similarities between the duplicate genes may be related to the fact that the two copies of the kappa locus are arranged in a palindrome-like fashion with the 5' sides of the O regions pointing towards each other (C kappa J kappa B Lp Ap Op-Od Ad Ld). This may have contributed to equalizing the sequences. Beyond Op and Od no further V kappa genes were found within about 80 kb. Instead, repetitive DNA sequences have been localized there, the structures of which suggest that they may have been involved in the evolution of the V kappa gene-containing regions. The V kappa pseudogene containing W regions, that had been transposed in evolution from the short to the long arm of chromosome 2 by a pericentric inversion, may have been derived from the O regions according to structural homologies between defined sections of the O and W regions.