Master genes in mammalian repetitive DNA amplification

Prescott L. Deininger, University Medical Center New Orleans
Mark A. Batzer, University Medical Center New Orleans
Clyde A. Hutchison, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Marshall H. Edgell, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Abstract

The analysis of species-specific subfamilies of both the LINE and SINE mammalian repetitive DNA families suggests that such subfamilies have arisen by amplification of an extremely small group of 'master' genes. In contrast to the master genes, the vast majority of both SINEs and LINEs appear to behave like pseudogenes in their inability to undergo extensive amplification. © 1992.