Concerted evolution: Molecular mechanism and biological implications

Abstract

Concerted evolution is a fundamental process. It operates in all organisms. The molecular mechanism underlying concerted evolution has just begun to emerge. Genetic analyses of multigene families such as rDNA and snRNA genes in diverse populations will continue to yield useful information regarding the population dynamics of multigenes and will provide clues to the mechanism of concerted evolution. The challenge ahead is to establish an experimental system to investigate the molecular details of sequence homogenization during concerted evolution, particularly in higher eukaryotes.