highly repetitive DNA

sequences of DNA repeated many times in tandem and clustered in several regions of the eukaryotic GENOME. The sequences occur 100 000 to 1 000 000 times per genome and are between 5 and 500 BASE PAIRS in length, though commonly 5 to 15 base pairs. The role of such sequences is largely unknown. Compare MODERATELY REPETITIVE DNA.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

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References in periodicals archive ?

In the wild, ongoing chromosomal rearrangements lead to considerable changes in the numbers, sizes, and positions of highly repetitive DNA clusters and underlie the divergence of natural populations [21].

Transposable Elements in the Organization and Diversification of the Genome of Aegilops speltoides Tausch (Poaceae, Triticeae)

The variability in DNA amount has often been attributed to loss or addition of highly repetitive DNA sequences rather than to the AT- or GC-rich sequences in the genome (Martel et al.

Molecular phylogenetic relationships among four species of the mangrove tree genus Bruguiera (Rhizophoraceae), as revealed by chromosome and RAPD markers

To analyze the stability of Norstar BAC clones, 10 clones of which seven carried highly repetitive DNA were tested.

Construction and characterization of a BAC library of a cold-tolerant hexaploid wheat cultivar

An Austrian biologist theorized that the erosion of telomeres, highly repetitive DNA at the end of chromosomes, might function as a kind of internal clock that determines when a species will become extinct.

Findings

Localized highly repetitive DNA sequences in vertebrate and invertebrate genomes, pp.

Heteromorphism for a highly repeated sequence in the New Zealand frog Leiopelma hochstetteri