PHYLOGENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS AMONG TRANSPOSON-LIKE ELEMENTS IN HUMAN AND PRIMATE DNA

A THE-1 sequence in intron 7 of the human dystrophin gene has been fou nd to represent a new subfamily of THE-1 elements. The sequence is clo sely related to the MstII family of repetitive sequences and is more l ike single-copy sequences found in the galago genome than any other TH E-1 sequence previously reported. This new THE-1 sequence has been com pared with two other complete THE-1 sequences and three related long-t erminal repeat elements that we have previously found in intron 7 of t he dystrophin gene, and with members of the same family from elsewhere in the primate genome. Parsimony and deletion analysis show that the cluster of THE-1 sequences in intron 7 of the dystrophin gene has aris en from at least three individual insertion events, rather than from t he insertion and duplication of a single progenitor sequence.