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2004
LSU-HHMI Summer Undergraduate Research Program |
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 Gregory
P. Bourgeois, Mohamed A. F. Noor, Biological Sciences
Evaluating a claim of selection within the exuperantia2
locus of Drosophila pseudoobscura
A recent study purported to show natural selection acting on
a new allele of the exuperantia2 gene in Drosophila pseudoobscura.
However, two factors were not considered. First, the identification
of the allele as new was partially based on a single outgroup
sequence from D. persimilis, which hybridizes with
D. pseudoobscura. Second, a frameshift deletion was
found in the D. persimilis sequence but not commented upon.
We have evaluated the conclusion surveying sequences of multiple
lines of D. persimilis through RFLP and DNA sequence
assays. We find that the putative ancestral allele is indeed
fixed in D. persimilis, and the frameshift deletion
does not appear to exist. Hence, the main conclusions of the
recent study are likely valid.
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