Evolutionary Changes in Gene Regulation from a Comparative Analysis of Multiple Drosophzla Species

Exploiting thc orthologihomolog information now available from the complete genomic sequences of twelve species of Drosophila, we have investigated the ability of regulatory site recognition mcthods to find rcgulatory changes for orthologs linked to chromosomal rearrangements. This has made use of the wealth of synteny information among thcsc spccics. By comparing orthologs in multiple species, we found that the breakpoint of chromosomal rcarrangemcnts could havc had an impact on regulatory changes of genes next to it with respect to the gene function and location. Extensions of our approach could bc uscd to shcd light on the role of gene regulation in the cvolutionary adaptation to different environmental conditions.