Complete amino acid sequence of cytochrome c from the honeybee, Apis mellifera, and evolutionary relationship of the honeybee to other insects on the basis of the amino acid sequence.

The complete amino acid sequence of cytochrome c purified from the honeybee, Apis mellifera was determined. Only one molecular species of cytochrome c was found in the honeybee throughout its metamorphic stages. On the basis of a comparison of the amino acid sequence of honeybee cytochrome c with those of cytochromes c from other insects, it seems that the bee has evolutionarily appeared earlier than would be expected from the morphological and fossil evidence. If the classical phylogenetic relationships of the honeybee are correct, the evolutionary rate of cytochrome c must have been more rapid in the honeybee than in other insects.