Identification of a novel tandemly repeated sequence present in an intron of the glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI) gene in mouse and man.

Glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI, glucose 6-phosphate ketol-isomerase, EC 5.3.1.9) is a housekeeping gene expressed in all tissues and organisms that utilize glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. Deficiency in humans leads to a rare form of nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia. We have isolated a 3.2-kb mouse cDNA containing glucose phosphate isomerase coding sequence and a 2.1-kb intronic sequence and a large proportion of the human gene (approaching 55 kb) in four phage lambda recombinants. A 4-kb intronic fragment from the human gene showing homology to the mouse intronic sequence has been isolated and sequenced. The fragment contains approximately 1.5 kb of sequence that is composed of 30 repeat units of a novel 50-bp tandemly repeated units. The mouse intronic sequence contains 18 similar units. The human consensus sequence differs from the mouse consensus sequence at only 7 positions out of 50 (positions 16, 26, 27, 42, 43, 47, and 48). A probe containing the repeat element detects polymorphisms, specific to glucose phosphate isomerase, in human DNA. The repeat element does not appear to be present at any other loci in human DNA. The conservation of this intronic repeat element extends to pig and Chinese hamster.