Evolution and Expression at the 68C Glue Gene Cluster of Drosophila

Author: Martin, Christopher Hayes

Year: 1988

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Meyerowitz, Elliot M.

Committee Members: Meyerowitz, Elliot M.; Emr, Scott D.; Rothenberg, Ellen V.; Abelson, John N.; Tanouye, Mark

Option: Biology

DOI: 10.7907/p2n6-q185

Abstract

This thesis describes investigations on the evolution of a region containing a cluster of three glue genes located at chromosomal site 68C in the Drosophila melanogaster genome. These studies have used a set of five closely related Drosophila species, all members of the melanogaster species subgroup. The first chapter serves as an introduction and summarizes this work. The second chapter describes the initial characterization of the glue gene clusters and the surrounding regions in the five Drosophila species. The third chapter describes the characterization at the sequence level of the boundary that was found between adjacent blocks of rapidly and slowly evolving sequences located at the 68C glue gene cluster. The fourth chapter describes the evolution of the largest of the three glue genes in the 68C glue gene cluster: Sgs-3. Together, these studies reveal that this region of the genome is evolving as a mosaic, with adjacent regions evolving at different rates and in very different ways.

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