DNA from a patient with severe hemophilia B was evaluated by RFLP analysis, producing results which suggested the existence of a partial deletion within the factor IX gene. The deletion was further localized and characterized by PCR amplification and sequencing. The altered allele has a 4,442-bp deletion which removes both the donor splice site located at the 5' end of intron d and the two last coding nucleotides located at the 3' end of exon IV in the normal factor IX gene; this fragment has been replaced by a 47-bp sequence from the normal factor IX gene, although this fragment has been inserted in inverted orientation. Two homologous sequences have been discovered at the ends of the deleted DNA fragment.