DNA polymorphism in the beta-Esterase gene cluster of XXXX .

@entity12137 @entity72287 @entity238 @entity44158
We have analyzed nucleotide polymorphism within a 5.3-kb region encompassing the functional @entity44158 gene and the @entity72287 putative pseudogene in 28 strains of @entity238 and one of @entity12137 . Two divergent sequence types were detected, which are not perfectly associated with @entity44158 allozyme variation. The level of variation (pi) is very close in the 5'-flanking region (0.0059) and @entity44158 gene (0.0057), but significantly higher in the intergenic region (0.0141) and putative pseudogene (0.0122). The variation in the 3'-flanking region is intermediate (0.0083). These observations may reflect different levels of purifying selection in the different regions. Strong linkage disequilibrium occurs within the region studied, with the largest values revealed in the putative pseudogene and 3'-flanking region. Moreover, recombination is restricted within @entity72287 . Gene conversion is detected both within and (to a lesser extent) between @entity44158 and @entity72287 . The data indicate that @entity72287 exhibits some characteristics that are typical of nonfunctional genes, while other characteristics are typically attributed to functional genes; the same situation has been observed in other pseudogenes (including @entity238 ). The results of structural entropy analysis demonstrate higher structural ordering in @entity44158 than in @entity72287 , in accordance with expectations if @entity72287 is indeed a pseudogene. Taking into account that the function of @entity72287 is not known (but could exist) and following the terminology of J. Brosius and S. J. Gould, we suggest that the term "potogene" may be appropriate for @entity72287 , indicating that it is a potential gene that may have acquired some distinctive but unknown function.
