The Organization of the ß-Globin Gene Cluster and the Nucleotide Sequence of the ß-Globin Gene of Cyprus Mouflon (Ovis gmelini ophion)

The 13-globin gene cluster of the domestic sheep (Ovis aries) shows two common haplotypes: the A haplotype, which bears the adult sA allele (HBBA), and the B haplotype, which bears the adult sB allele (HBBB) [1, 2]. The chromosomal organization of the A haplotype was found to be similar to that present in goat (Capra hircus) since it shows the same triplication (5’ Er_Ea_NJsI sc_E[u_Erv_Jsrr_sn_£v_Evr_ NJs,rr-sF-3’) of an ancestral four gene set (E-E-NJs-s) [3]. This set is characterized by the presence of two embryonic genes (e), one pseudogene (NJs), and one adult gene (s). The expression of the adult gene varies during ontogenic development and under different physiological conditions. The sc, sA, and sF genes are, in fact, expressed during juvenile, adult and fetal life, respectively, and the sc gene expression is reactivable, at the expense of sA gene, under particular physiological or experimental conditions such as anemia and hypoxia or the administration of erythropoietin [4-6]. The B haplotype is considered to have diverged from the A haplotype, as the result of a recent deletion from a triplicated locus. In fact, due to the lack of the whole juvenile four-gene set containing the sc gene, it is duplicated (5’ er srr NJsr sB Errr-EIV yrsrI sF-3’) and sheep which are homozygous for the sB allele do not exhibit the sBia>scswitching