Summary
DNA sequences from two spontaneous mutations of Drosophila melanogaster associated with insertion of a Doc transposable element have been cloned. In white-one, the element is inserted in the white locus close to where transcription initiates. In a lethal allele of suppressor of forked, su(f)S2, the element is inserted within the transcription unit in the protein coding region. Four other Doc elements have been cloned from a wild-type strain. Doc is a member of the class of transposable elements known as retroposons, which includes the D. melanogaster F, G, Jockey, and I elements. There is no sequence homology between the ends of the Doc element. The 3′ or right end terminates with a polyadenylation signal sequence followed by a stretch of oligo-A. The length of the oligo-A varies between elements, and a duplication of variable size is found as a direct repeat flanking inserted Doc elements. Members of the family are conserved at the 3′ end, but may be truncated at the 5′ or left end. These structural features suggest a mechanism of transposition via an RNA intermediate.
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Communicated by D.J. Finnegan
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Driver, A., Lacey, S.F., Cullingford, T.E. et al. Structural analysis of Doc transposable elements associated with mutations at the white and suppressor of forked loci of Drosophila melanognster . Molec. Gen. Genet. 220, 49–52 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00260854
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00260854