A Drosophila genomic sequence with homology to human epidermal growth factor receptor.

Vertebrate genomes contain an extensive family of genes possessing varying degrees of homology to the v-src oncogene. Most src-related proteins identified to date are intracellular and membrane-associated, although some are transmembrane proteins and function as receptors for peptide growth factors. Three Drosophila gene sequences related to the v-src gene have been identified, each exhibiting a high degree of homology to one or more of the src-family members encoding an intracellular protein. We have isolated a panel of cloned Drosophila sequences exhibiting weak v-src hybridization and were interested to determine whether any members of this group represented homologues of additional known src-family genes, especially those functioning as growth factor receptors. As we report here, four of these clones, representing overlapping portions of the same genomic segment, hybridized preferentially with the v-erb-B oncogene and were further characterized. The deduced amino-acid sequence from a portion of this Drosophila genomic segment is 77% homologous to the kinase domain of human epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, a substantially greater degree of homology than was observed with any other known src-family member. By hybridization with a human EGF receptor complementary DNA clone probe, we demonstrate that the same genomic segment showing homology with the kinase domain also contains sequences related to the extracellular domain of the EGF receptor gene.