Summary
We have analyzed the behavior of a transposing element (TE) in Drosophila melanogaster. The TE carries the structural genes white (w a or w aR=white apricot reversed) and roughest (rst +), which corresponds to the bands 3C2-6 and a genetic distance of approximately 0.7 map units. Due to the large size, TE can often be visualized in the polytene chromosomes as extra bands at the site of the transposon. We have identified over 100 different transpositions, most of which are situated in the large autosomes; genetic and cytological information is presented for 41 of these positions. Excision of TE may occur once in 1,000 chromosomes, while insertion in a new position is more rare, about once in 10,000 animals or less. The structure of TE itself is variable: regions within it may be lost, genes located adjacent to the site of insertion may transpose with the TE (“hitch-hiking” genes) or the TE may be duplicated.
Possible mechanisms for transposition of the TE and its relation to “dispersed gene families” are discussed. Paro et al. (1983) have studied the end segments of the TE and isolated so-called FB elements (FB-NOF), which are responsible for its ability to transpose.
A careful analysis of the many insertion points for TE will result in a more accurate correlation between the genetical and cytological maps for the two large autosomes of Drosophila melanogaster.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bingham PM, Judd BH (1981) A copy of the copia transposable element is very tightly linked to the w a allele at the white locus of D. melanogaster. Cell 25: 705–711
Bridges CB (1935) Salivary chromosome maps. Genetics 26: 60–64
Brosseau GE Jr (1970) V-type position effects for e+ and ro+ in Drosophila. Dros Inf Serv 45: 100
Bukhari AI, Shapiro JA, Adhya SL (eds) (1977) DNA insertion elements, plasmids and episomes. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York
Calos MP, Miller JH (1980) Transposable elements. Cell 20: 579–595
Campbell A, Berg DE, Lederberg EM, Starlinger P, Botstein D, Novick RP, Szybalski W (1979) Nomenclature of transposable elements in prokaryotes. Plasmid 2: 466–473
Finnegan DJ, Rubin GM, Young MW, Hogness DS (1978) Repeated gene families in Drosophila melanogaster. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 42: 1053–1063
Gausz J, Gyurkovics H, Bencze G, Awad AAM, Holden JJ, Ish-Horowicz D (1981) Genetic characterization of the region between 86F1,2 and 87B15 on chromosome 3 of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 98: 775–789
Gehring WJ, Paro R (1980) Isolation of a hybrid plasmid with homologous sequences to a transposing element of Drosophila melanogaster. Cell 19: 897–904
Goldberg ML, Paro R, Gehring WJ (1982) Molecular cloning of the white locus region of Drosophila melanogaster using a large transposable element. EMBO J 1: 93–98
Green MM (1967) The genetics of a mutable gene at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 56: 467–482
Green MM (1969) Controlling element mediated transpositions of the white gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 61: 429–441
Green MM (1976) Mutable and mutator loci. In: Ashburner M, Noviski E (eds) The genetics and biology of Drosophila, vol 1 b. Academic Press, New York, pp 929–946
Green MM (1977) The case for DNA insertion mutations in Drosophila. In: Bukhari AI, Shapiro JA, Adhya SL (eds) DNA insertion elements, plasmids and episomes. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, pp 437–445
Green MM (1980) Transposable elements in Drosophila and other Diptera. Annu Rev Genet 14: 109–120
Ising G (1964) A recessive lethal in Chromosome 2, which in single dose has an effect on the eye colour of white animals. Dros Inf Serv 39: 84
Ising G, Block K (1981) Derivation-dependent distribution of insertion sites for a Drosophila transposon. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 45: 527–544
Ising G, Ramel C (1973) The behaviour of a transposing element in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics suppl 74: 123
Ising G, Ramel C (1976) The behaviour of a transposing element in Drosophila melanogaster. In: Ashburner M, Novitski E (eds) The genetics and biology of Drosophila, vol 1 b. Academic Press, London, pp 31–66
Jack JW, Judd BH (1979) Allelic pairing and gene regulation: A model for the zeste-white interaction in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76: 1368–1372
Lefevre G, Jr (1976) A photographic representation and interpretation of the polytene chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster salivary glands. In: Ashburner M, Novitski E (eds) The genetics and biology of Drosophila, vol 1 a. Academic Press, London, pp 31–66
Lefevre G, Jr, Green MM (1972) Genetic duplication in the whitesplit interval of the X chromosome in Drosophila melanogaster. Chromosoma 36: 391–412
Levis R, Collins M, Rubin GM (1982) FB elements are the common basis for the instability of the w DZL and w c Drosophila mutations. Cell 30: 551–565
Lindsley DL, Grell FH (1968) Genetic variations of Drosophila melanogaster. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No 627
Mainx F (1964) The genetics of Megaselia scalaris Loew (Phoridae): A new type of sex determination in Diptera. Am Nat 98: 415–430
Mainx F (1966) Die Geschlechtsbestimmung bei Megaselia scalaris Loew (Phoridae). Z Vererbungsl 98: 49–60
McClintock B (1950) The origin and behavior of mutable loci in maize. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 36: 344–355
McClintock B (1951) Chromosome organization and genic expression. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 16: 13–47
McClintock B (1953) Induction of instability at selected loci in maize. Genetics 38: 579–599
McClintock B (1956) Intranuclear systems controlling gene action and mutation. Mutation, Brookhaven Symp Biol 8: 58–71
McClintock B (1961) Some parallels between gene control systems in maize and in bacteria. Am Nat 95: 265–277
Nevers P, Saedler H (1977) Transposable genetic elements as agents of gene instability and chromosomal rearrangements. Nature 268: 109–115
Paro R, Goldberg LG, Gehring WJ (1983) Molecular analysis of large transposable elements carrying the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster. EMBO J 2: 853–860
Potter SS, Brorein WJ, Dunsmuir P, Rubin GM (1979) Transposition of elements of the 412, copia and 297 dispersed repeated gene families in Drosophila. Cell 17: 415–427
Ramel C (1966) The interaction of white and a dominant suppressor of white on viability in Drosophila melanogaster. Hereditas 56: 113–130
Rasmuson B, Montell I, Rasmuson Å, Svahlin H, Westerberg B-M (1980) Genetic instability in Drosophila melanogaster: Evidence for regulation, excision and transposition at the White locus. Mol Gen Genet 177: 567–570
Roberts PA (1971) Localization of pr to region between gene duplications in chromosome arm 2L. Dros Inf Serv 46: 122
Saura AO, Sorsa V (1979) Electron microscopic analysis of the banding pattern in the salivary gland chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster. Divisions 21 and 22 of 2L. Hereditas 90: 39–49
Shukla PT, Auerbach C (1980) A transposing forked-duplication with position effect variegation in Drosophila. Genet Res 36: 41–56
Strobel E, Dunsmuir P, Rubin GM (1979) Polymorphisms in the chromosomal locations of elements of the 412, copia and 297 dispersed repeated gene families in Drosophila. Cell 17: 429–439
Yoon JS, Richardson RH, Wheeler MR (1973) A technique for improving salivary chromosome preparations. Experientia 29: 639–641
Young MW (1979) Middle repetitive DNA: A fluid component of the Drosophila genome. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76: 6274–6278
Zachar Z, Bingham PM (1982) Regulation of white locus expression: The structure of mutant alleles at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster. Cell 30: 529–541
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by W. Gehring
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ising, G., Block, K. A transposon as a cytogenetic marker in Drosophila melanogaster . Mol Gen Genet 196, 6–16 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334085
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334085