Finishing Drosophila mojavensis Fosmid Clone 485-B16

With the sequences of so many organisms’ genomes finished and available for use, comparative genomics has become a rapidly growing scientific discipline. In the spring of 2007, we plan to use comparative genomics to study the 4 chromosome (the ‘dot’ chromosome) of Drosophila by comparing the sequence of the Drosophila mojavensis dot chromosome to the sequences of the Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila virilis dot chromosomes. Although this chromosome appears to be mainly heterochromatic in D. melanogaster and euchromatic in D. virilis, Slawson et. al showed that it contains genes. We hope to learn about the D. mojavensis dot chromosome from sequence comparisons, but first the sequence of the D. mojavensis dot chromosome must be finished. This paper describes the first step in the comparative genomics work to be accomplished in the spring of 2007, the finishing of a D. mojavensis dot chromosome fosmid to mouse standard.