UMR CNRS 5548, Développement, Communication chimique, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. rondot@invertebre.u-bordeaux.fr
A 4-kb DNA segment of Tenebrio molitor (Insecta, Coleoptera) genomic DNA containing two larval-pupal cuticular genes has been cloned and sequenced. These genes, transcribed in opposite directions, are related in DNA sequence and the proteins encoded are very similar. Each of them contains a single intron located inside the sequence encoding the signal peptide, and a conserved sequence at -200 bp from the mRNA start position. These similarities in sequence suggest that these genes have evolved by duplication followed by diversification and that they are members of a family of genes with a common ancestry. They are the first example of clustered genes in Tenebrio molitor.