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MBE Advance Access published online on December 18, 2006
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msl201
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Article

Drosophila mojoless, a Retroposed gsk-3, Has Functionally Diverged to Acquire an Essential Role in Male Fertility

Rasika Kalamegham*,{dagger}, David Sturgill*, Esther Siegfried{dagger},§ and Brian Oliver*

* Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
{dagger} Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Microbiology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801
§ Current address: Department of Biology, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, 450 Schoolhouse Road, Johnstown PA 15904

Corresponding author: Rasika Kalamegham, rasika{at}niddk.nih.gov, Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, Ph. 301-594-1411, FAX- 301-496-5239

Accepted for publication December 12, 2006.

Retroposition is increasingly recognized as an important mechanism for the acquisition of new genes. We show that a gsk-3 gene, shaggy, retroposed at least 50 million years ago in the Drosophila genus to generate a new gene, mojoless (mjl). We have extensively analyzed the function of mjl and examined its functional divergence from the parental gene sgg in D. melanogaster. Unlike Sgg, which is expressed in many tissues of both sexes, Mjl is expressed specifically in the male germline, where it is required for male germline survival. Our analysis indicates that mjl has acquired a specific function in the maintenance of male germline viability. However, it has not completely lost its ancestral biochemical function and can partially compensate for loss of the parental gene sgg when ectopically expressed in somatic cells. We postulate that mjl has undergone functional diversification and is now under stabilizing selection in the Drosophila genus.

Key Words: Germ Cell • Male sterile • Gene duplication • GSK-3


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