Conservation and change in the DNA sequences coding for alcohol dehydrogenase in sibling species of Drosophila.

The DNA sequences of the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) genes of four very closely related species of Drosophila show that the rates of nucleotide change vary greatly in different functional domains of this gene. A phylogeny of these species based on the Adh sequence data is consistent with that based on polytene chromosome banding patterns.