Functional Evolution of the Myb Oncogene Family,

Three Myb-related genes (A-Myb, B-Myb, and c- Myb) have been found in all vertebrates examined thus far including mammals, birds, and amphibians. Two invertebrates, the sea urchin and the fruit fly, have only one Myb-related gene. Our laboratory has used Drosophila as a model system to explore the function of its sole Myb gene. We have also reintroduced the three different vertebrate Myb genes into Drosophila in order to begin to understand how their different functions may have arisen following gene duplication during evolution.