The nucleotide sequence of a rabbit beta-globin pseudogene.

We report the nucleotide sequence of a rabbit beta-globin pseudogene, psi beta 2. A comparison the psi beta 2 sequence with that of the rabbit adult beta-globin gene, beta 1, reveals the presence of frameshift mutations and premature termination codons in the protein coding sequence which render pse beta 2 unable to encode a functional beta-globin polypeptide. psi beta 2 contains two intervening sequences at the same locations in the globin protein coding sequence as beta 1 and all other sequenced beta-globin genes. An examination of the DNA sequences at the intron/exon junctions suggests that a putative pse beta 2 precursor mRNA could not be spliced normally. We compare the flanking and noncoding sequences of pse beta 2 and beta 1 and discuss the evolutionary relationship between these two genes.