A TRANSCRIPT FAMILY FROM A LONG-RANGE REPEAT CLUSTER OF THE HOUSE MOUSE

A family of closely related genes is a component of the polymorphic lo ng-range repeat cluster D1Lub1 of the house mouse. Members of the gene family have diverged from one another by rearrangements and point mut ations. D1Lub1 clusters have low (approximate to 50) or high (greater than or equal to 500) copy numbers. In mice with high-copy clusters fi ve or six poly(A)(+) RNAs are found, while in mice with low-copy clust ers only a single member of the RNA family is detected. The RNA family is synthesized in a tissue-independent manner. Each member of the RNA family is defined by a set of DNA probes. Cross hybridization with th e probes reveals common 5' regions and variable remaining parts. The R NA variants are probably transcribed from different gene copies.