Functional evolution of the Myb oncogene family

Three Myb-related genes (A-Myb, B-Myb, and c-Myb) have been found in all ve rtebrates examined thus far including mammals, birds, and amphibians. Two i nvertebrates, the sea urchin and the fruit fly, have only one Myb-related g ene. Our laboratory has used Drosophila as a model system to explore the fu nction of its sole Myb gene. We have also reintroduced the three different vertebrate Myb genes into Drosophila in order to begin to understand how th eir different functions may have arisen following gene duplication during e volution. (C) 2001 Academic Press.