Comparison of human and chimpanzee zeta 1 globin genes

The DNA base sequences of the entire chimpanzee zeta 1 globin gene and an additional 1 kb of DNA flanking both the human and chimpanzee genes have been determined. Whereas the human zeta 1 gene contains a termination codon in the sixth position, the chimpanzee gene appears to be functional. This finding confirms Proudfoot et al.'s suggestion that the human zeta 1 gene was recently inactivated. Like the corresponding human zeta 1 and zeta 2 genes, the first and second introns of the chimpanzee zeta 1 gene are occupied largely by tandem repeats of short oligonucleotides. These tandem repeats have undergone several rearrangements since the divergence of the human and chimpanzee zeta 1 genes.