Recent insertion of an Alu sequence in the beta-globin gene cluster of the gorilla

We present the nucleotide sequence of a new Alu family member that lies between the delta- and beta-globin genes in gorilla DNA. The sequence exhibits 91% similarity with a consensus sequence of the Alu family. It is flanked by a perfect repetition of a 16-nucleotide target sequence and terminates with 24 adenylic residues. As this sequence is absent at this locus in other primate DNAs, its insertion occurred less than 8 million years ago, thus supporting the idea that Alu sequences are still mobile elements in the hominoid genome.