Abstract
The CYP307 enzymes are necessary for the synthesis of the arthropod ecdysteroid moulting hormones, but show a notably elevated duplication and loss rate compared to other enzymes acting in the same pathway. We demonstrate that Drosophila melanogaster Cyp307a1 null homozygotes can be rescued by ubiquitous expression of Drosophila hydei Cyp307a3 and Aedes aegypti Cyp307b transgenes, although amino acid identity between D . melanogaster CYP307A1 and A . aegypti CYP307B is less than 35%. This evidence of functional conservation across even distantly-related members of the Cyp307 family provides context for interpreting the evolutionary forces driving Cyp307 copy number variation.
