The chorion genes of the medfly, Ceratitis capitata. I : Structural and regulatory conservation of the s36 gene relative to two Drosophila species

• Published in: Nucleic acids research Vol. 18; no. 7; pp. 1731 - 1737
• Main Authors: KONSOLAKI, M, KOMITOPOULOU, K, TOLIAS, P. P, KING, D. L, SWIMMER, C, KAFATOS, F. C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 11.04.1990
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Ceratitis capitata; Chorion; Diptera; Diptera - genetics; Drosophila - genetics; Drosophila melanogaster; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes. Genome; Genomic Library; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Restriction Mapping; RNA - genetics; RNA - isolation & purification; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Tephritidae; Egg membrane; Nucleotide sequence; Tephritidae; Insecta; Homology; Drosophila virilis; Drosophilidae; Gene amplification; Conserved sequence; Ceratitis capitata; Arthropoda; DNA; Invertebrata; Molecular cloning; Ovarian follicle; Diptera
• ISSN: 0305-1048; 1362-4962
• DOI: 10.1093/nar/18.7.1731

We have used low stringency screening with the Drosophila melanogaster s36 chorion gene to recover its homologue from genomic and cDNA libraries of the medfly, Ceratitis capitata. The same gene has also been recovered from a genomic library of D. virilis. The medfly s36 gene shows similar developmental specificity as in Drosophila (early choriogenesis). It is also specifically amplified in ovarian follicles; this is the first report of chorion gene amplification outside the genus Drosophila. Alignments of s36 sequences from three species show that, in addition to its regulatory conservation, the s36 gene is extensively conserved in sequence, in a region corresponding to a central protein domain, and in short regions of 5' flanking DNA that might correspond to cis-regulatory elements.