Phylogenetic analysis supports horizontal transfer of P transposable elements.
Nucleotide sequence comparisons were used to investigate the evolution of P transposable elements and the possibility that horizontal transfer has played a role in their occurrence in natural populations of Drosophila and other Diptera. The phylogeny of P elements was examined using published sequences from eight dipteran taxa and a new, partial sequence from Scaptomyza elmoi. The results from a number of different analyses are highly consistent and reveal a P-element phylogeny that contradicts the phylogeny of the species. At least three instances of horizontal transfer are necessary to explain this incongruence, but other explanations cannot be ruled out at this time.
Clark
J B
JB
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.
Maddison
W P
WP
Kidwell
M G
MG
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D004175:Diptera / Q000235:genetics*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
D017931:DNA Primers; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004247:DNA