Characterization of an unusual human histone H3.3 pseudogene

The analysis of a genomic loci containing human histone H3.3 processed pseudogenes, has revealed two regions that are unusually rich in other retroposons. At one of the loci the H3.3 pseudogene is itself interrupted by 2 Alu repetitive sequences. The characterization of these two recently transposed Alus provides confirmation of the "multiple origin" hypothesis of these repetitive elements. The unusual occurrence of 3 different types of retroposons in a small region suggests that there may be particular chromosomal regions that are hot spots for retroposon insertion.