Germ line abnormalities InDrosophila simulans transfected with the transposable P element

Abstract

A strain ofDrosophila simulans was studied 40 generations after the transposable P element had been introduced into the genome by means of transformation. The genome also contained arosy transposon consisting of the wildtype allele of therosy gene flanked by P element DNA. During the 40 generations of evolution the number of P elements had increased to the level of 8–15 and the number ofrosy transposons to the level of 4–12. Continued transpositional activity in the germ line of the strain was evidenced by deletions occurring in therosy transposon and, in two independent sublines, by the transposition of therosy transposon from the X chromosome to the autosomes. Although at 25°C gonadal development and fertility appeared normal in both sexes, at 29°C both sexes were sterile. The sterile females had morphologically normal ovaries, but the sterile males often had shrunken, dysmorphic testes containing few or no immature sperm bundles. However, the sterility found in the transfected strain may not result directly from transpositional activity of the P element. The characteristics of theD. simulans strain infected with the P element are discussed in the context of factors that influence hybrid dysgenesis inD. melanogaster.