'Compensatory slippage' in the evolution of ribosomal RNA genes. |
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| Authors: | J M Hancock and G A Dover |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK. |
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| Abstract: | The distribution patterns of shared short repetitive motifs in the expansion segments of the large subunit rRNA genes of different species show that these segments are coevolving as a set and that in two examined vertebrate species the RNA secondary structures are conserved as a consequence of runs of motifs in one region being compensated by complementary motifs in another. These unusual processes, involving replication-slippage, have implications for the evolution of ribosomal RNA and for the use of the rDNA multigene family as a 'molecular clock' for assessing relationships between species. |
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