Gene conversions within the skeletal myosin multigene family

Comparisons of the nucleotide sequences of the light meromyosin (LMM) region of developmentally regulated fast chicken myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms indicates that chicken MHC isoforms are more similar to each other than to MHC isoforms in other species. The sequence data provide evidence that gene conversion events have occurred recently among the isoforms. An embryonic (Cemb1) isoform and neonatal isoform have the most extensive regions of sequence identity. Similar gene conversion events are present in the rat alpha- and beta-cardiac MHCs, but were not obvious in the LMM of developmentally regulated fast human MHC isoforms. The data suggest that gene conversion events can play a significant role in the evolution of the MHC multigene families and that concerted evolution of the chicken multigene family occurred after the divergence of mammals and avians.