(A) Nucleotide sequence of the zebrafish adult α_A1 -globin cDNA. The amino acid sequence is listed underneath. (B) Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequence of adult α globins of zebrafish and other fish species (obtained from Genbank). The initiator methionine is placed in italics, because the sequenced polypeptides do not include this methionine. Our studies show that the zebrafish α globins do contain the N-terminal methionine, but the β globins do not.