Figure 3.

Alignment of Pax octapeptides (OPs) from insects reveals Pax subgroup signature, and uncovers a previously unreported octapeptide motif present in Pax4/6 proteins. OPs from Pax gene products are given and aligned, with adjacent conserved amino acids, in some cases. Positions within or relative to the OP are given as numbers above the alignment, where 1 is position 1 of the OP. The consensus sequence for these OPs is given below each gene family, which is coded by color: gsb (green), gsb-n (orange), pox-m (purple), pox-n (blue), shaven (yellow). Signature sequences distinctive for each Pax gene family comprising residues within the OP or in combination with adjacent amino acids, are highlighted with color and indicated in bold for each sequence group. An OP-like sequence was identified between the paired domain and homeodomain of Pax 4/6 proteins. Available insect OP-like sequences from ey and toy (pink) are aligned, with the signature sequence in bold at the bottom of each group. Two neighbouring amino acids constitute a distinguishing feature within this subgroup, indicated by shading (vertical or horizontal stripes).