Recently amplified Alu family members share a common parental Alu sequence.
Three of the most recently inserted primate Alu family members are exceptionally closely related. Therefore, one, or a few, Alu family members are dominating the amplification process and the vast majority are not actively involved in retroposition. Although individual Alu family members are not under any apparent evolutionary constraint, the sequences of these active members are being moderately conserved.
Deininger
P L
PL
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans 70112.
Slagel
V K
VK
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005784:Gene Amplification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid