Author
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Handler, Alfred - Al |
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O'BROCHTA, DAVID - Former ARS Employee |
Submitted to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 5/12/1988 Publication Date: N/A Citation: Handler, A.M., O'Brochta, D. . 1988. Mobility of P elements in drosophilids and nondrosophilids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 85:6052-6056. Interpretive Summary: The mobility properties of the Drosophila melanogaster P element in drosophilid and nondrosophilid species has been determined by scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Medical Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, Florida, using a P-element mobility assay that is conducted transiently in insect embryos. P elements are mobilizable in all drosophilids tested, including species outside the genus Drosophila but not in the related Tephritidae (order: Diptera), although the P-element gene necessary for mobility, transposase, is transcribed. These results show that without modifications P elements will not serve as general insect gene vectors and suggest that nonconserved host-encoded factors participate in the transposition of P elements. Our methods will be generally useful for analyzing the cis- and trans-acting factors required for P-element mobility in vivo and could be used to analyze the mobility properties of other transposable elements in insects. Technical Abstract: The mobility properties of the Drosophila melanogaster P element in drosophilid and nondrosophilid species has been determined using a P-element mobility assay that is conducted transiently in insect embryos. P elements are mobilizable in all drosophilids tested, including species outside the genus Drosophila but not in the related Tephritidae (order: Diptera), although the P-element gene necessary for mobility, transposase, is transcribed. These results show that without modifications P elements will not serve as general insect gene vectors and suggest that nonconserved host-encoded factors participate in the transposition of P elements. Our methods will be generally useful for analyzing the cis- and trans-acting factors required for P-element mobility in vivo and could be used to analyze the mobility properties of other transposable elements in insects. |