Evolutionary EST analysis identifies rapidly evolving male reproductive proteins in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Sequence comparisons of genomes or expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from related organisms provide insight into functional conservation and diversification. We compare the sequences of ESTs from the male accessory gland of Drosophila simulans to their orthologs in its close relative Drosophila melanogaster, and demonstrate rapid divergence of many of these reproductive genes. Nineteen ( approximately 11%) of 176 independent genes identified in the EST screen contain protein-coding regions with an excess of nonsynonymous over synonymous changes, suggesting that their divergence has been accelerated by positive Darwinian selection. Genes that encode putative accessory gland-specific seminal fluid proteins had a significantly elevated level of nonsynonymous substitution relative to nonaccessory

SUBMITTER: Swanson WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC34676 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature