Recombination and genetic polymorphism at the mouse alpha-globin locus.

A recent recombination event within the mouse alpha-globin gene region was discovered in the recombinant inbred mouse strain AKXL-7. Polymorphisms (RFLPs) that distinguish the AKR and C57L strains were used to determine the parental origins of segments of the AKXL-7 Chromosome 11. Southern blot analysis revealed that the left and right AKXL-7 flanking regions originated from different parental chromosomes, indicating that a recombination event had occurred within the locus complex during the generation of this RI strain. Further analysis using an intergenic region probe narrowed the region of crossover to approximately 5.2 kb, located between the tandem adult alpha-globin genes. Additional mouse strains were studied concurrently to identify RFLPs that may be informative for defining evolutionary relationships and serve as markers to discriminate among different inbred strains as well as different mouse species.