Subject: CG4715 nomenclature
Dear Flybase colleagues,
We would like to ascribe the name 'Iris' to CG4715 in flybase. We
have an abstract in the forthcoming Drosophila Research Conference
(below) in which we have carried out an extensive evolutionary
analysis of CG4715 and shown its evolutionary relatednes to the
envelope genes from two classes of insect viruses: the baculoviridae
and the errantiviridae.
We have named this gene Iris because it is a host gene (not a dead
virus) and plays an important role in host oogenesis, but is related
to 'pathogenic' viruses.
IRIS, in Greek mythology, Goddess of the Rainbow, the daughter of the
Titan Thaumas and Electra, daughter of the Titan Oceanus. As
messenger of the god Zeus and his wife, Hera, Although she was a
sister of the winged monsters, the Harpies, Iris was represented as a
beautiful maiden, with wings and robes of bright colors and a halo of
light on her head, trailing across the sky with a rainbow in her wake.
We have a manuscript in preparation which we would also like to use
this nomenclature. Please let me know if this is okay and what
procedures we should follow.
(poster)
Program Nr: 926B
Iris, a viral envelope related host gene in Drosophila. H.S. Malik ,
S. Henikoff.
Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.
Mobile genetic elements impose a high cost on the host genomes they
infest. Yet, occasionally their enzymatic machinery gets usurped for
beneficial function to eukaryotic genomes, from protecting the ends
of linear chromosomes to generating diversity in immune function. In
rare cases, structural genes of mobile elements have been acquired by
host genomes. Here we report on a retroviral envelope-related gene,
Iris, that has been preserved solely as a host gene (not in the
context of a virus or provirus) in Diptera. Cytological analyses
indicate that Iris plays an important role in oocyte development in
D. melanogaster, while molecular evolutionary studies suggest that
dual selective pressures
act on the gene. By analogy to the gypsy-like envelope genes, the
receptor-interacting segment of Iris is under strong positive
selection, while the structurally important membrane-fusion segment
is under balancing selection in D. melanogaster. Iris provides a
unique opportunity to study the process of 'domestication' of a
selfish gene.
(end)
You may address any queries to me or to Steve Henikoff
.. who is the senior author on this study.
Best wishes,
Harmit Malik
\--
Dr. Harmit Singh Malik
Henikoff Lab, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
1100 Fairview Ave. N, A1-162, Seattle, WA 98109-1024.