Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Electroporation of Craniofacial Mesenchyme
Published on: November 28, 2011
Evolution of the achaete-scute complex in insects: convergent duplication of proneural genes
1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
Abstract:
Proneural genes encode transcriptional activators of the basic Helix-loop-helix class that are involved in neuronal specification and differentiation. We have used the recent availability of genome sequences of multiple distant insect species to study the evolution of a family of proneural genes, the achaete-scute genes, and to examine their genomic organization and evolution. We document independent evolution of multiple copies of achaete-scute homologues and argue that this might have contributed to morphological diversity in Diptera and Lepidoptera.
Related Concept Videos
Neurulation
Convergent Evolution
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are characterized.
Determination
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...

