N. S. Kupriyanova, K. K. Nechvolodov, P. M. Kirilenko, and A. P. Ryskov
Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117334 Russia
Received June 10, 1998
Abstract—The intergenic spacer of eukaryotic rDNA (rIGS) contains various clusters of microsatellites. Sim-
ilar motifs are present in other regions of the genome. Certain microsatellites types, however, are specific for
rIGS. Thus it has been demonstrated that microsatellite (ttgc)n, a component of a minisatellite cluster flanked
by unidirectional Alu repeats and located 2 kb upstream of the transcription initiation site, is specific for human
and chimpanzee rIGS. Interestingly, this motif is absent from rIGS of other primates studied so far. An oligo-
nucleotide probe homologous to this microsatellite may be used to detect human rDNA and to investigate the
structural polymorphism in human rIGS.
Key words: primates, rDNA, polymorphism, microsatellite, species specificity, evolution
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