@article{Rudd01012006,
author = {Rudd, M. Katharine and Wray, Gregory A. and Willard, Huntington F.}, 
title = {The evolutionary dynamics of α-satellite},
volume = {16}, 
number = {1}, 
pages = {88-96}, 
year = {2006}, 
doi = {10.1101/gr.3810906}, 
abstract ={α-Satellite is a family of tandemly repeated sequences found at all normal human centromeres. In addition to its significance for understanding centromere function, α-satellite is also a model for concerted evolution, as α-satellite repeats are more similar within a species than between species. There are two types of α-satellite in the human genome; while both are made up of ∼171-bp monomers, they can be distinguished by whether monomers are arranged in extremely homogeneous higher-order, multimeric repeat units or exist as more divergent monomeric α-satellite that lacks any multimeric periodicity. In this study, as a model to examine the genomic and evolutionary relationships between these two types, we have focused on the chromosome 17 centromeric region that has reached both higher-order and monomeric α-satellite in the human genome assembly. Monomeric and higher-order α-satellites on chromosome 17 are phylogenetically distinct, consistent with a model in which higher-order evolved independently of monomeric α-satellite. Comparative analysis between human chromosome 17 and the orthologous chimpanzee chromosome indicates that monomeric α-satellite is evolving at approximately the same rate as the adjacent non-α-satellite DNA. However, higher-order α-satellite is less conserved, suggesting different evolutionary rates for the two types of α-satellite.}, 
URL = {http://genome.cshlp.org/content/16/1/88.abstract}, 
eprint = {http://genome.cshlp.org/content/16/1/88.full.pdf+html}, 
journal = {Genome Research} 
}