Evolution of gene position: chromosomal arrangement and sequence comparison of the Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila virilis sina and Rh4 genes

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1991-11, Vol.88 (22), p.10203-10207
• Main Authors: Neufeld, T.P. (University of California, Berkeley, CA), Carthew, R.W, Rubin, G.M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; CHROMOSOME; Chromosome Mapping; Cloning, Molecular; CODE GENETIQUE; CODIGO GENETICO; CROMOSOMAS; DESARROLLO BIOLOGICO; DEVELOPPEMENT BIOLOGIQUE; DNA Probes; Drosophila - genetics; DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; DROSOPHILA VIRILIS; EVOLUCION; EVOLUTION; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes. Genome; Genomic Library; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; NUCLEOTIDE; NUCLEOTIDOS; PIGMENT; PIGMENTOS; Restriction Mapping; Salivary Glands - physiology; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; TRANSFERENCIA DE GENES; TRANSFERT DE GENE
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.88.22.10203

The seven in absentia (sina) gene of Drosophila encodes a nuclear protein required for normal eye development. In Drosophila melanogaster, the sina gene is located within an intron of the Rh4 opsin gene. We examine here the nucleotide sequences and chromosomal arrangements of these genes in Drosophila virilis. An interspecies comparison between D. melanogaster and D. virilis reveals that the protein-coding sequences of the sina and Rh4 genes are highly conserved, but the relative chromosomal position and structural arrangement of these genes differ between the two species. In particular, the sina and Rh4 genes are widely separated in D. virilis, and there is no intron in the Rh4 gene. Our results suggest that the Rh4 gene was translocated to another chromosomal location by a retrotransposition event