Dear Steven, The Chx genes do indeed correspond to the Vsx genes (we were asked to change the name to Vsx to remain consistent with the vertebrate nomenclature). Chx1 = Vsx1 and Chx2 = Vsx2. Chx3 does not exist in the Drosophila genome. We pulled it out of a Drosophila cDNA library with vertebrate Vsx2, but its sequence was not present in the Drosophila genome. We suspect that it came from a contamination in the cDNA library (mites?) Hope this helps, Ted -- Dear Ted Erclik, I'm trying to clean up some Gene Reports in FlyBase and came across the Chx1, Chx2 and Chx3 Gene Reports: http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0026559.html http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0026558.html http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0026557.html None of these genes are localized to the genome sequence and the references associated with these genes are (almost) solely ADRC abstracts authored by yourself. Looking at your later published Current Biology article (Conserved role of the Vsx genes supports a monophyletic origin for bilaterian visual systems, 2008), it looks like two of these Chx genes correspond to Vsx1 and Vsx2: http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0029775.html http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0053980.html Can you confirm if this is really the case? If so, I will merge the respective Gene Reports in FlyBase. Also, do you have any further data on Chx3? Thanks for your time, Steven. -- Steven Marygold FlyBase
