In this paper, we present a variability map of the eukaryotic large subunit
ribosomal RNA, showing the distribution of variable and conserved sites in
this molecule. The variability of each site in this map is indicated by me
ans of a colored dot. Construction of the variability map was based on the
substitution rate calibration (SRC) method, in which the substitution rate
of each nucleotide site is computed by looking at the frequency with which
sequence pairs differ at that site as a function of their evolutionary dist
ance. Variability maps constructed by this method provide a much more accur
ate acid objective description of site-to-site variability than visual insp
ection of sequence alignments.