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Vol 43(2009) N 5 p. 735-746; D.A. Kramerov, N.S. Vasetskii Short interspersed repetitive sequences as a phylogenetic tool Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, RussiaReceived - 2008-12-30; Accepted - 2009-02-19 The review is dedicated to one of the most common classes of repetitive elements in eukaryotic genomes: short interspersed elements. Their structure, origin, and functioning in the genome are discussed. The variation and abundance of these neutral genomic markers make them a convenient and reliable tool for phylogenetic analysis. The main methods of such analysis are outlined, and the potential and limitations of this approach are illustrated by examples. short interspersed elements, SINEs, evolution, phylogeny |