The relationship between structural variation and dysgenic properties of P elements in long-established P-transformed lines of Drosophila simulans.
Ten lines of Drosophila simulans were investigated with respect to P activity, P susceptibility and the number and structure of their P copies, eight years after transformation with the P element. All 10 were found to have reached a steady state. They exhibited varying levels of P activity (from 0 per cent to 96 per cent GD sterility) and, with the exception of one line, were not P-susceptible. In contrast with P element behaviour in D. melanogaster: (i) no relationship was found between the molecular pattern of P copies in a line and its ability to induce or to repress P expression in D. simulans; (ii) peculiar P element derivatives were observed in this species; (iii) the average number of P copies per genome was only half of that in D. melanogaster. This may result from transposon-host genome interactions, which lead to a low invading power of the P element in D. simulans.
Higuet
D
D
Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, Université Paris 7, France.
Merçot
H
H
Allouis
S
S
Montchamp-Moreau
C
C
D000818:Animals; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements