Abstract

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of 75 nucleotides of the 3'-untranslated portion of normal human alpha globin mRNA which corresponds to the elongated amino acid sequence of the chain termination mutant Hb Constant Spring. This was accomplished by sequence analysis of cDNA fragments obtained by restriction endonuclease or T4 endonuclease IV cleavage of human globin cDNA synthesized from globin mRNA by use of viral reverse transcriptase. Analysis of cRNA synthesized from cDNA by use of RNA polymerase provided additional confirmatory sequence information. Possible polymorphism has been identified at one site of the sequence. Our sequence overlaps with, and extends the sequence of 43 nucleotides determined by Proudfood and coworkers for the very 3'-terminal portion of human alpha globin mRNA. The complete 3'-untranslated sequence of human alpha globin mRNA (112 nucleotides including termination codon) shows little homology to that of the human or rabbit beta globin mRNAs except for the presence of the hexanucleotide sequence AAUAAA which is found in most eukaryotic mRNAs near the 3'-terminal poly (A).