Population genetic analysis of 15 restriction site polymorphisms demonstrates nonuniform
recombination within the human beta-globin gene cluster. These DNA polymorphisms show
two clusters of high nonrandom associations, one 5'and another 3'to the beta-globin
structural gene, with no significant linkage disequilibrium between the two clusters. The 5'-
and 3'-association clusters are 34.6 kilobases (kb) and 19.4 kb long, respectively, and are
separated by 9.1 kb of DNA immediately 5'to the beta-globin gene. For each of these three …

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR joint dependence on mutation at sites represented in two A2
values (eg, sites 1 and 2 and sites 1 and 3) makes it unlikely that such values are
independent. Finally, while there does appear to be evidence of nonuniformity of
recombination fractions in the, 3-globin data, Chakravarti et al. undertake tests after having
divided the chromosome into regions on the basis of the observed A2 values. This
procedure leads to biased tests. Chakravarti et al. demonstrate that new insights into genetic …