title: Identification and molecular analysis of a multigene family encoding calliphorin, the major larval serum protein of Calliphora vicina.
abstract: A library of Calliphora vicina genomic DNA was constructed in the lambdaEMBL3 vector and screened for recombinant phages containing chromosomal segments encoding calliphorin, the major larval serum protein (LSP) of Calliphora. A large series of recombinants hybridizing with in vitro labelled poly(A) RNA from Calliphora larval fat bodies and with specific probes derived from the LSP-1 genes of Drosophila melanogaster was isolated. Five of these phages, chosen at random, were shown by hybrid selection to retain calliphorin mRNA specifically. Eleven calliphorin mRNA-homologous regions were located on restriction maps of these phages by hybridization with 5' end-labelled poly(A) RNA from Calliphora larval fat bodies. Each phage contains at least two calliphorin genes arranged in direct repeat orientation and seperated by 3.5-5 kb intergenic regions. The genes display similar but not identical restriction patterns. Filter hybridization and heteroduplex analysis indicate that they share a detectable homology with the LSP-1beta gene of D. melanogaster. Whole genome Southern analysis showed that these genes belong to a large family of closely related calliphorin genes which were found by in situ hybridization to polytene chromosomes of trichogen cells to be clustered in region 4a of chromosome 2 of Calliphora vicina.
authors.affiliation: Zoologisches Institut der Universität Würzburg, Röntgenring 10, 8700 Würzburg, FRG.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schenkel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kejzlarová-Lepesant
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berreur
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Scheller
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brègègére
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lepesant