Drosophila kikkawai ortholog of the D. melanogaster Muller D element ash1

The <i>Drosophila kikkawai</i> feature with Gene ID 108083276 was determined to be an ortholog of <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> absent, small, or homeotic discs 1 ( <i>ash1</i> ). Two isoforms, ash1-PB and ash1-PC, were constructed on the <i>D. kikkawai</i> Muller D element using the GEP annotation protocol. The second coding exon of <i>D. kikkawai</i> <i>ash1</i> includes an insertion translated into 18 additional amino acids compared to the <i>D. melanogaster</i> protein and is supported by RNA-Seq coverage, the lack of splice junction predictions, and multiple gene predictors. The first intron in both isoforms of <i>D. kikkawaiash1</i> contains a well conserved non-canonical GC splice site.