Nucleotide sequence of the genomic region encoding alcohol dehydrogenase in Drosophila affinidisjuncta

Abstract

The DNA sequence of a 3886-bp genomic region containing the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene from Drosophila affinidisjuncta, and the RNA sequences of the D. affinidisjuncta Adh transcripts, are presented. These data support the conclusion that two Adh promoters generate distinct, developmentally regulated Adh transcripts. Correlations between these sequences and the transcription map are discussed. Comparisons between these and equivalent data from D. melanogaster are also presented. We note the following observations: (1) Except at the extreme 3' end, the two genes are identically organized. (2) Drosophila Adh protein accumulates amino acid replacements at the rate of approximately 0.5 per million years. (3) Among the non-protein-coding DNA sequences, putative homologies occur in the two promoter regions.