A satellite DNA family from pollock (Pollachius virens)

We have cloned and sequenced a highly reiterated EcoRI fragment of DNA from pollock (Pollachus virens). The EcoRI repeat is 200 (+/- 5) bp long, A + T-rich (65%) and exhibits a high degree of sequence conservation among representative members. It comprises 13% of the pollock nuclear DNA with a copy number of 5 x 10(5) per haploid genome. Partial digestion of pollock DNA with EcoRI or Hinf1, which cleaves within the repeat, followed by blot hybridization to a cloned repeat sequence, produced a ladder of hybridising bands indicating a tandemly arrayed organisation for the EcoRI repeat. Longer range periodicities, revealed by restriction endonuclease digestion, are superimposed on the tandem array.