Positive selection drives the evolution of rhino, a member of the heterochromatin protein 1 family in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Heterochromatin comprises a significant component of many eukaryotic genomes. In comparison to euchromatin, heterochromatin is gene poor, transposon rich, and late replicating. It serves many important biological roles, from gene silencing to accurate chromosome segregation, yet little is known about the evolutionary constraints that shape heterochromatin. A complementary approach to the traditional one of directly studying heterochromatic DNA sequence is to study the evolution of proteins that bind and define heterochromatin. One of the best markers for heterochromatin is the heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1), which is an essential, nonhistone chromosomal protein. Here we investigate the molecular evolution of five HP1 paralogs present in Drosophila melanogaster. Three of these paralogs hav

SUBMITTER: Vermaak D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1183528 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature