D-ras oncogene homolog in an amphipod, Gammarus minus

Cellular oncogenes have been shown to be highly conserved throughout most of the animal kingdom. The objective of this study was to try to find an oncogene sequence in an amphipod, Gammarus minus. Genomic DNA was isolated from Gammarus minus and digested with EcoR I restriction endonuclease. The DNA fragments were separated on an agarose gel and transferred to a nylon membrane. The membrane was incubated under high stringency in the presence of a biotin labelled ras probe isolated from Drosophila melanogaster. The membrane was subjected to a colorimetric reaction for detection of the homologous sequences. The Drosophila oncogene was found to be homologous to Gammarus minus DNA under 80% stringency. This demonstrates that oncogenes are indeed conserved through long evolutionary distances.