Evaluation of the role of functional constraints on the integrity of an ultraconserved region in the genus Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Why gene order is conserved over long evolutionary timespans remains elusive. A common interpretation is that gene order conservation might reflect the existence of functional constraints that are important for organismal performance. Alteration of the integrity of genomic regions, and therefore of those constraints, would result in detrimental effects. This notion seems especially plausible in those genomes that can easily accommodate gene reshuffling via chromosomal inversions since genomic regions free of constraints are likely to have been disrupted in one or more lineages. Nevertheless, no empirical test has been performed to this notion. Here, we disrupt one of the largest conserved genomic regions of the Drosophila genome by chromosome engineering and examine the phenotypic conseque

SUBMITTER: Diaz-Castillo C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3271063 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature