title: Evidence for unequal crossing over in the evolution of the neurofilament polypeptide H.
abstract: Two allelic forms of the rabbit neurofilament protein H, designated H1 and H2, differ by approximately 6% in their electrophoretic mobilities. We have used techniques of peptide and nucleic acid analysis to determine that this difference is located in the central portion of the COOH-terminal tail, a region of the H protein that can project from the filament, and may form cross-bridges. This region comprises tandem amino acid motifs containing the sequence KSP, in which the serine residues are sites of phosphorylation. The sequence of this repetitive region of H2 is 132 nucleotides (44 amino acids) shorter than H1 and differs significantly in the arrangement of the repeated motifs. The difference suggests that both forms have evolved from a common ancestor over the past several million years by the process of unequal crossing over and that this process figured importantly in generating the repetitive region. In addition, the results indicate that this region is functionally redundant and that the length and structure of the tail of rabbit H resemble H from other mammalian species more closely than was suggested by a previously reported cDNA, on account of a single nucleotide difference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Soppet
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Beasley
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Willard
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003434:Crossing Over, Genetic; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015347:RNA Probes; D011817:Rabbits; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D015347:RNA Probes; C051774:neurofilament protein H; D004247:DNA