Skip Navigation



MBE Advance Access published online on August 29, 2003
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msg238
Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2003; all rights reserved
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/12/2042    most recent
msg238v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Negre, B.
Right arrow Articles by Ruiz, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Negre, B.
Right arrow Articles by Ruiz, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Accepted July 14, 2003
© 2003 Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

Original Articles

A New Split of the Hox Gene Complex in Drosophila: Relocation and Evolution of the Gene labial

Bárbara Negre 1, José María Ranz 1, Ferran Casals 1, Mario Cáceres 1, and Alfredo Ruiz 1*

1 Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Alfredo.Ruiz{at}uab.es.


  Abstract

Hox genes encode transcription factors involved in the specification of segment identity in the early metazoan embryo. These genes are usually clustered and arranged in the same order as they are expressed along the anteroposterior body axis. This conserved genomic organization has suggested the existence of functional constraints acting on the genome organization. Partial disassembly of the Hox gene complex (HOM-C) in Caenorhabditis elegans and in two different Drosophila lineages, however, questions whether this cluster organization is absolutely required for proper function. Here we report a new split of the HOM-C discovered in the species of the Drosophila repleta group, that relocated the most anterior gene of the complex, lab, to a distant chromosomal site near the two most posterior Hox genes, abd-A and Abd-B. To investigate the evolutionary consequences of natural rearrangements of the Hox gene complex, the gene lab has been cloned and sequenced in D. buzzatii, a member of the D. repleta group with the split, and in D. virilis, a member of a different species group without the split. The results show that the structure of lab in D. buzzatii is intact and place the breakage point at least eight kb from its transcription start site. The nucleotide sequence evolution of lab in the genus Drosophila has been investigated by means of maximum likelihood methods. No significant variation has been observed among lineages in the rate of nucleotide substitution or in the nonsynonymous/synonymous substitution ratio. Seemingly, the relocation of lab has not induced a change in evolution rate or degree of functional constraint. Nevertheless, further work is needed to ascertain whether the lab-pb split has had any consequences on gene expression.

Key Words: labial, Hox complex, Drosophila buzzatii, chromosomal rearrangement, genome evolution


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Genome ResHome page
B. Negre, S. Casillas, M. Suzanne, E. Sanchez-Herrero, M. Akam, M. Nefedov, A. Barbadilla, P. de Jong, and A. Ruiz
Conservation of regulatory sequences and gene expression patterns in the disintegrating Drosophila Hox gene complex
Genome Res., May 1, 2005; 15(5): 692 - 700.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.