Bovine DNA contains a single major family of interspersed repetitive sequences.

A major family of short, interspersed, repeated sequences in the bovine genome has been characterized. This family makes up the majority of all non-satellite repetitive DNA or about 6% of the bovine genome. It is estimated that there are at least 600 000 copies of this family interspersed among non-repetitive DNA sequences. Sequence analysis shows that this family includes sequences reported previously by Watanabe et al. (Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 1459-1469, 1982) and is distantly related to the human Alu sequence family.