The putative Drosophila NMDARA1 gene is located on the second chromosome and is ubiquitously expressed in embryogenesis.

We describe the cDNA sequence of a Drosophila gene located at 49D on the second chromosome. The predicted protein sequence has extensive homology (46% identity, 76% similarity) along its entire length to the central portion of the mammalian brain-specific NMDARA1 glutamate binding protein. While RNA expression studies of the Drosophila protein shown that it is ubiquitously expressed throughout embryogenesis, there appears to be a selective accumulation of transcript in the precursor for the larval brain. The similarity in both expression and sequence suggests that the two proteins may share a conserved function.