Structural changes in the antennapedia complex of Drosophila pseudoobscura

The Antennapedia Complex (ANT-C) of Drosophila (D) pseudoobscura was cloned to determine the rigidity of its organization and to provide further understanding of its evolutionary changes. Results revealed that the structural characteristics of ANT-C in D pseudoobscura is highly identical with that found in D melanogaster, except that the psudoobscura ANT-C lacks the z2 gene. In addition, in D pseudoobscura, the Deformed gene's orientation is inverted and has a 5' to 3' transcription direction. These indicate that the ANT-C structure is not rigid and can be altered even during a short period of evolutionary divergence.