Defining the beginning and end of KpnI family segments

Comparison of the sequences at the ends of several newly cloned and full length members of the monkey KpnI family with one another and with previously described monkey and human segments defines the nucleotide sequence at the two termini. No terminal repeats either direct or inverted are noted within full length family members which may or may not be immediately flanked by direct repeats. At the 3' terminus, several family members have polyadenylation signals followed by a d(A)-rich stretch. The genomic frequency of segments within the full length element increases markedly from the 5' to the 3' terminus, consistent with the cloning of various truncated family members. One such truncated version joined to a low copy number DNA segment is inserted in monkey alpha-satellite where the combination appears to have been amplified in conjunction with the satellite itself.