Prototype sequence of bovine 1.720 satellite DNA

Bovine 1.720 satellite DNA (density in CsCl, 1.720 g/cm³) consists of a tandem array of 46 base-pair-repeat units without a detectable higher-order periodicity. About 80% of the satellite DNA is cleaved by AluI into a 46 base-pair fragment which has been isolated and sequenced. The sequence determined exhibits a very high homology to the 23 base-pair prototype sequence of bovine 1.706 satellite DNA (Pech et al., 1979) indicating a common origin of the two satellites. The 46 base-pairrepeat unit of the 1.720 satellite is composed of two related 23 base-pair sequences both of which are largely self-complementary. The entire 1.720 satellite DNA can be considered to be an imperfect palindrome.