Apis mellifera cytoplasmic elongation factor 1α (EF‐1α) is closely related to Drosophila melanogaster EF‐1α

Abstract
Using low stringency hybridisation with a Drosophila melanogaster EF‐1α gene fragment we have isolated a genomic DNA clone encoding elongation factor 1α (EF‐1α) from Apis mellifera. The hybridising Apis mellifera sequence could be delineated to two small EcoRI fragments that were also revealed by genomic Southern hybridisation. By comparison with the corresponding Drosophila melanogaster data the complete translational reading frame has been deduced. It is interrupted by two intervening sequences of 220 and about 790 nucleotides. Comparison with known eucaryotic EF‐1α sequences further confirms that certain amino acid sequences seem to be invariable within the EF‐1α protein family.