A Drosophila melanogaster gene encodes a protein homologous to the mouse t complex polypeptide 1

We have isolated and sequenced a cDNA from Drosophila melanogaster that is homologous to the mouse Tcp-1 gene encoding the t complex polypeptide 1, TCP-1. The Drosophila gene maps by in situ hybridization to bands 94B1-2 of the polytene chromosomes. It shares 66% nucleotide sequence identity with the mouse gene. The predicted Drosophila protein consists of 557 amino acids and shares 72% identity with the mouse polypeptide. The TCP-1 polypeptide appears to be highly conserved in evolution from mammals to simple eukaryotes because the Drosophila gene probe also detects related sequences in DNA from the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The presence of TCP-1-related polypeptides in organisms such as Drosophila and yeast should facilitate biochemical and genetic analysis of its function.