Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 13 February 1976:
Vol. 191. no. 4227, pp. 528 - 535
DOI: 10.1126/science.1251186
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Science, Vol 191, Issue 4227, 528-535
Copyright © 1976 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Evolution of repeated DNA sequences by unequal crossover

GP Smith

It is often supposed that highly repetitious DNA's arise only as a result of unusual mechanisms or in response to selective pressure. My arguments and simulations suggest, by contrast, that a pattern of tandem repeats is the natural state of DNA whose sequence is not maintained by selection. The simulations show that periodicities can develop readily from nonreptitious DNA as a result of the random accumulation of random mutations and random homology-dependent unequal crossovers. The lengths of these periodicities, and the patterns of subrepeats within them, would fluctuate in evolution, with the probability of a given pattern being dependent on the unknown exact nature of the crossover mechanism. Qualitatively, then, unequal crossover provides a reasonable and uncontrived explanation for the prevalence of highly repeated sequences in DNA and for the patterns of periodicity they evince.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Evolutionary relationships among copies of feather beta ({beta}) keratin genes from several avian orders.
T. C. Glenn, J. O. French, T. J. Heincelman, K. L. Jones, and R. H. Sawyer (2008)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 48, 463-475
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Diversity of a Complex Centromeric Satellite and Molecular Characterization of Dispersed Sequence Families in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris).
G. Menzel, D. Dechyeva, T. Wenke, D. Holtgrawe, B. Weisshaar, and T. Schmidt (2008)
Ann. Bot. 102, 521-530
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Analysis of Drosophila Species Genome Size and Satellite DNA Content Reveals Significant Differences Among Strains as Well as Between Species.
G. Bosco, P. Campbell, J. T. Leiva-Neto, and T. A. Markow (2007)
Genetics 177, 1277-1290
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Between-Species Analysis of Short-Repeat Modules in Cell Wall and Sex-Related Hydroxyproline-Rich Glycoproteins of Chlamydomonas.
J.-H. Lee, S. Waffenschmidt, L. Small, and U. Goodenough (2007)
Plant Physiology 144, 1813-1826
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The mode and tempo of genome size evolution in eukaryotes.
M. J. Oliver, D. Petrov, D. Ackerly, P. Falkowski, and O. M. Schofield (2007)
Genome Res. 17, 594-601
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
AT-rich repeats associated with chromosome 22q11.2 rearrangement disorders shape human genome architecture on Yq12.
M. Babcock, S. Yatsenko, P. Stankiewicz, J. R. Lupski, and B. E. Morrow (2007)
Genome Res. 17, 451-460
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Finely Orchestrated Movements: Evolution of the Ribosomal RNA Genes.
T. H. Eickbush and D. G. Eickbush (2007)
Genetics 175, 477-485
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Chromosome-specific DNA Repeat Probes.
A. Baumgartner, J. F. Weier, and H.-U. G. Weier (2006)
J. Histochem. Cytochem. 54, 1363-1370
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Transcription and Evolutionary Dynamics of the Centromeric Satellite Repeat CentO in Rice.
H.-R. Lee, P. Neumann, J. Macas, and J. Jiang (2006)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 23, 2505-2520
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mouse telocentric sequences reveal a high rate of homogenization and possible role in Robertsonian translocation.
P. Kalitsis, B. Griffiths, and K. H. A. Choo (2006)
PNAS 103, 8786-8791
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Hotspots for copy number variation in chimpanzees and humans.
G. H. Perry, J. Tchinda, S. D. McGrath, J. Zhang, S. R. Picker, A. M. Caceres, A. J. Iafrate, C. Tyler-Smith, S. W. Scherer, E. E. Eichler, et al. (2006)
PNAS 103, 8006-8011
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Recombination, rearrangement, reshuffling, and divergence in a centromeric region of rice.
J. Ma and J. L. Bennetzen (2006)
PNAS 103, 383-388
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The evolutionary dynamics of {alpha}-satellite.
M. K. Rudd, G. A. Wray, and H. F. Willard (2006)
Genome Res. 16, 88-96
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genomic Instability of the DYZ1 Repeat in Patients with Y Chromosome Anomalies and Males Exposed to Natural Background Radiation.
D. Pathak, S. Premi, J. Srivastava, S. P. Chandy, and S. Ali (2006)
DNA Res 13, 103-109
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Unique Molecular Architecture of Egg Case Silk Protein in a Spider, Nephila clavata.
A. Zhao, T. Zhao, Y. SiMa, Y. Zhang, K. Nakagaki, Y. Miao, K. Shiomi, Z. Kajiura, Y. Nagata, and M. Nakagaki (2005)
J. Biochem. 138, 593-604
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Concerted Evolution in the Repeats of an Immunomodulating Cell Surface Protein, SOWgp, of the Human Pathogenic Fungi Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii.
H. Johannesson, J. P. Townsend, C.-Y. Hung, G. T. Cole, and J. W. Taylor (2005)
Genetics 171, 109-117
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From The Cover: Chromatin immunoprecipitation cloning reveals rapid evolutionary patterns of centromeric DNA in Oryza species.
H.-R. Lee, W. Zhang, T. Langdon, W. Jin, H. Yan, Z. Cheng, and J. Jiang (2005)
PNAS 102, 11793-11798
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Differential Rates of Local and Global Homogenization in Centromere Satellites From Arabidopsis Relatives.
S. E. Hall, S. Luo, A. E. Hall, and D. Preuss (2005)
Genetics 170, 1913-1927
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Progressive proximal expansion of the primate X chromosome centromere.
M. G. Schueler, J. M. Dunn, C. P. Bird, M. T. Ross, L. Viggiano, NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, M. Rocchi, H. F. Willard, and E. D. Green (2005)
PNAS 102, 10563-10568
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sobo, a Recently Amplified Satellite Repeat of Potato, and Its Implications for the Origin of Tandemly Repeated Sequences.
A. L. Tek, J. Song, J. Macas, and J. Jiang (2005)
Genetics 170, 1231-1238
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Satellite DNA From the Y Chromosome of the Malaria Vector Anopheles gambiae.
J. Krzywinski, D. Sangare, and N. J. Besansky (2005)
Genetics 169, 185-196
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Recent Origin and Phylogenetic Utility of Divergent ITS Putative Pseudogenes: A Case Study from Naucleeae (Rubiaceae).
S. G. Razafimandimbison, E. A. Kellogg, and B. Bremer (2004)
Syst Biol 53, 177-192
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comparisons of pollen coat genes across Brassicaceae species reveal rapid evolution by repeat expansion and diversification.
A. Fiebig, R. Kimport, and D. Preuss (2004)
PNAS 101, 3286-3291
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Allelic Variation at the VHa Locus in Natural Populations of Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus, L.).
P. J. Esteves, D. Lanning, N. Ferrand, K. L. Knight, S.-K. Zhai, and W. van der Loo (2004)
J. Immunol. 172, 1044-1053
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Correlation between Fibroin Amino Acid Sequence and Physical Silk Properties.
R. Fedic, M. Zurovec, and F. Sehnal (2003)
J. Biol. Chem. 278, 35255-35264
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phylogenetic analysis of Asplenium subgenus Ceterach (Pteridophyta: Aspleniaceae) based on plastid and nuclear ribosomal ITS DNA sequences.
C. J. Van den heede, R. L. L. Viane, and M. W. Chase (2003)
Am. J. Botany 90, 481-495
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Centromere Satellites From Arabidopsis Populations: Maintenance of Conserved and Variable Domains.
S. E. Hall, G. Kettler, and D. Preuss (2003)
Genome Res. 13, 195-205
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sequence Organization and Functional Annotation of Human Centromeres.
M.K. RUDD, M.G. SCHUELER, and H.F. WILLARD (2003)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 68, 141-150
   Abstract »    PDF »
Intragenomic and interspecific 5S rDNA sequence variation in five Asian pines.
Z.-L. Liu, D. Zhang, X.-Q. Wang, X.-F. Ma, and X.-R. Wang (2003)
Am. J. Botany 90, 17-24
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence for a Fast, Intrachromosomal Conversion Mechanism From Mapping of Nucleotide Variants Within a Homogeneous alpha -Satellite DNA Array.
D. Schindelhauer and T. Schwarz (2002)
Genome Res. 12, 1815-1826
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Molecular Evolution of the Mammalian Alpha 2B Adrenergic Receptor.
O. Madsen, D. Willemsen, B. M. Ursing, U. Arnason, and W. W. de Jong (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 2150-2160
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Slipped-strand DNAs formed by long (CAG){middle dot}(CTG) repeats: slipped-out repeats and slip-out junctions.
C. E. Pearson, M. Tam, Y.-H. Wang, S. E. Montgomery, A. C. Dar, J. D. Cleary, and K. Nichol (2002)
Nucleic Acids Res. 30, 4534-4547
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolutionary Dynamics of Satellite DNA Family PIM357 in Species of the Genus Pimelia (Tenebrionidae, Coleoptera).
J. Pons, E. Petitpierre, and C. Juan (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 1329-1340
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Unique Molecular Architecture of Silk Fibroin in the Waxmoth, Galleria mellonella.
M. Zurovec and F. Sehnal (2002)
J. Biol. Chem. 277, 22639-22647
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Method for Estimating the Mutation, Gene Conversion and Recombination Parameters in Small Multigene Families.
H. Innan (2002)
Genetics 161, 865-872
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
HET-E and HET-D Belong to a New Subfamily of WD40 Proteins Involved in Vegetative Incompatibility Specificity in the Fungus Podospora anserina.
E. Espagne, P. Balhadere, M.-L. Penin, C. Barreau, and B. Turcq (2002)
Genetics 161, 71-81
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolution of Dinoflagellate Unigenic Minicircles and the Partially Concerted Divergence of Their Putative Replicon Origins.
Z. Zhang, T. Cavalier-Smith, and B. R. Green (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 489-500
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reconstructing the Duplication History of Tandemly Repeated Genes.
O. Elemento, O. Gascuel, and M.-P. Lefranc (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 278-288
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genomic and Genetic Definition of a Functional Human Centromere.
M. G. Schueler, A. W. Higgins, M. K. Rudd, K. Gustashaw, H. F. Willard, and H. F. Willard (2001)
Science 294, 109-115
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Recombination Between Paralogues at the rp1 Rust Resistance Locus in Maize.
Q. Sun, N. C. Collins, M. Ayliffe, S. M. Smith, J. Drake, T. Pryor, and S. H. Hulbert (2001)
Genetics 158, 423-438
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Pericentromeric organization at the fusion point of mouse Robertsonian translocation chromosomes.
S. Garagna, N. Marziliano, M. Zuccotti, J. B. Searle, E. Capanna, and C. A. Redi (2001)
PNAS 98, 171-175
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Elongation of repetitive DNA by DNA polymerase from a hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus.
N. Ogata and H. Morino (2000)
Nucleic Acids Res. 28, 3999-4004
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Minisatellite Variants Generated in Yeast Meiosis Involve DNA Removal During Gene Conversion.
A. J. R. Bishop, E. J. Louis, and R. H. Borts (2000)
Genetics 156, 7-20
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Conservation and Novelty in the Evolution of Cell Adhesion and Extracellular Matrix Genes.
H. Hutter, B. E. Vogel, J. D. Plenefisch, C. R. Norris, R. B. Proenca, J. Spieth, C. Guo, S. Mastwal, X. Zhu, I. S. A. J. Scheel, et al. (2000)
Science 287, 989-994
   Abstract »    Full Text »
De Novo Evolution of Satellite DNA on the Rye B Chromosome.
T. Langdon, C. Seago, R. N. Jones, H. Ougham, H. Thomas, J. W. Forster, and G. Jenkins (2000)
Genetics 154, 869-884
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Molecular structure and evolution of an alpha satellite/non-alpha satellite junction at 16p11.
J. E. Horvath, L. Viggiano, B. J. Loftus, M. D. Adams, N. Archidiacono, M. Rocchi, and E. E. Eichler (2000)
Hum. Mol. Genet. 9, 113-123
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
CAGGG Repeats and the Pericentromeric Duplication of the Hominoid Genome.
E. E. Eichler, N. Archidiacono, and M. Rocchi (1999)
Genome Res. 9, 1048-1058
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Extreme Reduction of Chromosome-Specific alpha -Satellite Array Is Unusually Common in Human Chromosome 21.
A. W.I. Lo, G. C.-C. Liao, M. Rocchi, and K.H. A. Choo (1999)
Genome Res. 9, 895-908
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Unexpected homology between inducible cell wall protein QID74 of filamentous fungi and BR3 salivary protein of the insect Chironomus.
M. Rey, S. Ohno, J. A. Pintor-Toro, A. Llobell, and T. Benitez (1998)
PNAS 95, 6212-6216
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The trihelix DNA-binding motif in higher plants is not restricted to the transcription factors GT-1 and GT-2.
J. Smalle, J. Kurepa, M. Haegman, J. Gielen, M. Van Montagu, and D. V. D. Straeten (1998)
PNAS 95, 3318-3322
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
An unusual sequence arrangement in the telomeres of the germ-line micronucleus in Tetrahymena thermophila..
K E Kirk and E H Blackburn (1995)
Genes & Dev. 9, 59-71
   Abstract »    PDF »
Characterization of the human nestin gene reveals a close evolutionary relationship to neurofilaments.
J. Dahlstrand, L. B. Zimmerman, R. D. McKay, and U. Lendahl (1992)
J. Cell Sci. 103, 589-597
   Abstract »    PDF »
An inverted repeat borders a fivefold amplification in satellite DNA.
V Bonnewell, R. Fowler, and D. Skinner (1983)
Science 221, 862-865
   Abstract »    PDF »
Simple repeat array in Epstein-Barr virus DNA encodes part of the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen.
K Hennessy, M Heller, V van Santen, and E Kieff (1983)
Science 220, 1396-1398
   Abstract »    PDF »
Genome Alteration during In Vitro and In Vivo Aging: Amplification of Extrachromosomal Circular DNA Molecules Containing a Chromosomal Sequence of Variable Repeat Frequency.
R.J. Shmookler Reis, C.K. Lumpkin Jr., J.R. McGill, K.T. Riabowol, and S. Goldstein (1983)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 47, 1135-1139
   Abstract »    PDF »
Either Gene Amplification or Gene Conversion May Maintain the Homogeneity of the Multigene Family Encoding Human U1 Small Nuclear RNA.
A.M. Weiner and R.A. Denison (1983)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 47, 1141-1149
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sites of Divergence in the Sequence of a Complex Satellite DNA and Several Cloned Variants.
D.M. Skiner, V. Bonnewell, and R.F. Fowler (1983)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 47, 1151-1157
   Abstract »    PDF »
Inserted sequences in bovine satellite DNA's.
R. Streeck (1981)
Science 213, 443-445
   Abstract »    PDF »
Nucleotide Sequence Organization in Plant Chromosomes and Evidence for Sequence Translocation during Evolution.
R. B. Flavell, M. O'Dell, and J. Hutchinson (1981)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 45, 501-508
   Abstract »    PDF »
Fine Structure and Evolution of DNA in Heterochromatin.
W. J. Peacock, A. R. Lohe, W. L. Gerlach, P. Dunsmuir, E. S. Dennis, and R. Appels (1978)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 42, 1121-1135
   Abstract »    PDF »
DNA Sequence Organization in Drosophila Heterochromatin.
D. Brutlag, M. Carlson, K. Fry, and T. S. Hsieh (1978)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 42, 1137-1146
   Abstract »    PDF »
Mammalian Repetitive DNA and the Subunit Structure of Chromatin.
P. R. Musich, F. L. Brown, and J. J. Maio (1978)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 42, 1147-1160
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Significance of Hybridization Kinetic Experiments for Theories of Antibody Diversity.
G. P. Smith (1977)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 41, 863-875
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)