Localization of the beta-globin gene by chromosomal in situ hybridization

A 3.7-kilobase (kb) genomic clone of the human beta-globin gene, including 1.5-kb upstream and approximately 0.5-kb downstream, was utilized in chromosomal in situ hybridization for precise mapping of the beta-globin locus on peripheral blood lymphocyte-derived metaphases from a normal male, and for further evaluation of a clonal t(7;11) (q22;p15) translocation on bone marrow-derived metaphases from a 46-year-old male with erythroleukemia. Analyses of 205 midmetaphases from a normal male hybridized with the tritium-labeled beta-globin probe and stained with quinacrine mustard dihydrochloride revealed approximately 12% of spreads to have silver-grain deposition over the p15 band of chromosome 11. Of the 365 silver grains observed to be located on or beside chromosomes, 25 (approximately 7%) grains were localized in band p15. Karyotype analysis of a bone marrow specimen from the patient with erythroleukemia revealed hypodiploidy with various unidentified marker chromosomes as well as a presumably balanced translocation between 7q and 11p . Chromosomal in situ hybridization showed localization of silver grains at the junction between chromosomes 7 and 11 as well as to the normal chromosome 11, indicating that the beta-globin locus had not been translocated in the chromosomal rearrangement. This case demonstrates the value of chromosomal in situ hybridization in the definition of chromosome rearrangements and provides further evidence for the localization of the beta-globin gene to 11p15 .