Lack of association between intrachromosomal gene conversion and reciprocal exchange

The association of reciprocal exchange with intrachromosomal gene conversion has been examined using an inverted repeat at the HIS3 locus of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Intrachromosomal gene conversions between the duplicated inverted sequences are frequent. In contrast to gene conversion events between homologous chromosomes, intrachromosomal gene conversion is not associated with reciprocal exchange in flanking sequences. This observation has important consequences for the role of gene conversion in the maintenance of multigene families.