Identification and analysis of serpin-family genes by homology and synteny across the 12 sequenced Drosophilid genomes
Abstract Background The Drosophila melanogaster genome contains 29 serpin genes, 12 as single transcripts and 17 within 6 gene clusters.Many of these serpins have a short knee length kurtis conserved "hinge" motif characteristic of active proteinase inhibitors.However, a substantial proportion (42%) lacks this motif and represents non-inhibitory se