Drosophila Species Genome Project
Drosophila are extensively used as a model organism in genetics (including population genetics), cell-biology, biochemistry, and especially developmental biology. Therefore, extensive efforts are made to sequence drosphilid genomes. The genomes of the following species have been fully or partially sequenced so far:
- Drosophila (Sophophora) melanogaster
- Drosophila (Sophophora) simulans
- Drosophila (Sophophora) sechellia
- Drosophila (Sophophora) yakuba
- Drosophila (Sophophora) erecta
- Drosophila (Sophophora) ananassae
- Drosophila (Sophophora) pseudoobscura
- Drosophila (Sophophora) persimilis
- Drosophila (Sophophora) willistoni
- Drosophila (Drosophila) mojavensis
- Drosophila (Drosophila) virilis
- Drosophila (Drosophila) grimshawi
The data will be used for many purposes, including evolutionary genome comparisons. D. simulans and D. sechellia are sister species, and provide viable offspring when crossed, while D. melanogaster and D. simulans produce infertile hybrid offspring. The Drosophila genome is often compared with the genomes of more distantly related species such as the honeybee Apis mellifera or the mosquito Anopheles gambiae.
Curated data are available at FlyBase.
Read more about this topic: Drosophila
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