Xz. Zheng et al., The period gene: High conservation of the region coding for Thr-Gly dipeptides in the Drosophila nasuta species subgroup, J MOL EVOL, 49(3), 1999, pp. 406-410
In this study, the region corresponding to the Thr-Gly region of the period
(per) gene in the Drosophila nasuta subgroup of species was sequenced. The
results showed, that this region was highly conserved in the D. nasuta sub
group. There were only nine variable sites found in this 300-bp-long region
, all located in two small regions highly variable among Drosophila species
. No length variation was observed either within this subgroup or in the Yu
nnan (YN) population of D. albomicans. The deduced amino acid sequences wer
e identical for all 14 taxa in the D. nasuta subgroup, and a stretch of alt
ernating Thr-Gly pairs was not observed in this subgroup. A phylogenetic tr
ee was constructed. The clustering of some species was in general agreement
with previous works, but it also raised some question on the phylogenetic
relationship between the nasuta species. The data did not implicate the Thr
-Gly region playing a role in behavioral isolation in this subgroup of Dros
ophila.