Cloning and sequence analysis of a cDNA for the α-globin mRNA of carp, Cyprinus carpio

A cDNA for α-globin mRNA of the carp, Cyprinus carpio, was cloned by the method of Okayama and Berg (Mol. Cell. Biol. 2 (1982) 161–170) and its complete nucleotide sequence was determined. The 5′ non-coding region contained 23 nucleotides. Following this region, there was an open reading frame encoded with an α-globin polypeptide consisting of 142 amino acids. The 3′ non-coding region was 88 nucleotides in length, including two copies of the hexanucleotide AATAAA and a poly(A) site of the GC dinucleotide. There were 16 discrepancies between the reported amino acid sequence of the carp α-globin chain and the amino acid sequence predicted from the DNA sequence of the clone. The possible explanations for these differences in amino acid sequence are discussed.