DNA sequence arrangement and preliminary evidence on its evolution

Some recent measurements of the sequence arrangement and evolution of the eukaryotic genome are reviewed. The range of genome sizes and extent of sequence transcribed into nuclear and messenger RNA indicate that the majority of the single copy DNA is not made up of structural genes. The rate of base substitution in the single copy DNA among the primates is similar to that of the codons for certain rapidly changing amino acid residues. This leads to the hypothesis that there is a "basal" rate of change in the genome not strongly affected by selection. The DNA of most higher animals shows a large amount of short period interspersion of repetitive and single copy DNA sequences and a smaller amount of long repetitive regions. The sequence divergence among the short interspersed repetitive sequences is greater than that of the sequences in long repetitive regions. The long repetitive regions are most probably recent additions to the genome and the short interspersed repetitive sequences result from a history of base substitution and translocation. The process of sequence rearrangement appears to be a significant part of the evolution of the genome and may have a much greater effect on the evolution of the phenotype than sequence alteration by base substitution.