Characterization of a 249-bp tandemly repetitive, satellite-like repeat in the translated portion of Balbiani ring c of Chironomus thummi.

A major part of Balbiani ring (BR)c DNA of Chironomus thummi consists of tandem 249-bp repeats which appear to be transcribed and translated into a polypeptide of very unusual composition. Whereas these 2549-bp repeats are evident by Southern blotting, sequence analysis reveals a finer tandemly repetitive substructure: more than half of the 249-bp repeat length consists of tandem 24-bp subrepeats , and these in turn may have been generated from even shorter sequences. Comparisons with partial BRb and BR1 sequences reveal that this hierarchically repetitive sequence structure is typical of BR genes. It resembles the structure of some satellite sequences, suggesting that mechanisms leading to satellite DNA evolution may also operate in the evolution of structural genes.