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Abstract
The human ribosomal intergenic spacer (rIGS) differs considerably on nucleotide sequence and regulatory elements positioning from their counterparts in the mouse, rat and Xenopus laevis. In the present study, we have PCR amplified, cloned and sequenced the rIGS fragments of about 4.5 kb length, located ∼2 kb upstream of the rRNA transcription start point for the great apes, Pan paniscus, Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla and Pongo pygmaeus. Alignment of the primates' orthologic nucleotide sequences reveals high extent of similarity, with the exception of highly repetitious region between the two Alu repeats, nearest to the onset of transcription. Data obtained have been analyzed for further understanding of the evolution of repetitive sequences. We have also shown, that MARs/SARs distribution patterns in the pre-promoter rIGSs of the great apes and the mouse are surprisingly similar in spite of an absence of similarity in the primary structure and regulatory elements organization in the region under study.
Acknowledgements
This work was partly supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 04-04-48315), by grants from the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology (No. 43.073.1.1.2501) and from the RAS Program on Physical and Chemical Biology (No. 10002-251/P-10/143-142/010403-046). We are grateful to Drs Y.B. Lebedev, D.A. Kramerov and B.V. Skryabin for a kind gift of the great apes' DNA.