title: Neutral changes during divergent evolution of hemoglobins.
abstract: A comparison of the mRNAs for rabbit and human beta-hemoglobins shows that synonymous changes in codons have accumulated three times as rapidly as nucleotide replacements that produced changes in amino acids. This agrees with predictions based on the so-called 'neutral theory'. In addition, seven codon changes that appear to be single-base changes (according to 'maximum parsimony') are actually two-base changes. This indicates that the construction of "primordial sequences" is of limited signficance when based on inferences that assume minimum base changes for amino acid replacements.
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003062:Codon; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D003062:Codon; D006454:Hemoglobins; D012333:RNA, Messenger