Abundance and degree of dispersion of genomic d(GA)n.d(TC)n sequences

The abundance of d(GA)n.d(TC)n tracts was determined in genomes of rodents and primates. Dot blot hybridization assays revealed that such tracts constitute 0.40%, 0.30%, and 0.40%, respectively, of the rat, hamster, and mouse genomes, but only 0.07% and 0.05% of the human and monkey genomes. A plaque hybridization assay of rat and human genomic libraries showed that 37% and 16%, respectively, of the recombinant phages in these libraries contain d(GA)n.d(TC)n tracts. A survey of sequences stored in the GenBank data bank showed that a significant fraction of the stored rodent genes (about 2.0%) contain long d(GA)n.d(TC)n tracts (n greater than 30) with greater than 10% mismatching. The primate genes contain only shorter tracts (n less than 15) with less than 10% mismatching. In addition, the rodent and the primate genes contain tracts with larger degrees of mismatching. The chicken, which represents an entirely different branch of the evolutionary tree, was found to be as low in d(GA)n.d(TC)n tracts as the primates. It is suggested that a common ancestor of the rodents has acquired the ability to amplify d(GA)n.d(TC)n tracts.