Useful DNA polymorphisms are identified by snapback, a midrepetitive element in Tribolium castaneum.
The red flour bettle, Tribolium castaneum, is both a pest of stored grain products and an important experimental organism. To improve its facility as a genetic model, we are developing DNA fingerprinting methods for this insect. A Tribolium DNA fragment, snapback-1 (SBI), identified among sequences that reassociate before a Cot of 0.03 mol.s/L, was found to produce a banding pattern in restriction endonuclease digested genomic DNA that is characteristic of a midrepetitive element. DNA fingerprints of individual beetles demonstrated that unvarying inherited DNA polymorphism is revealed, and that polymorphism is inherited in a dominant Mendelian fashion. Linkage between bands was minimal. The sequence of SBI was determined, and hybridization experiments indicated that SBI is a fragment of a larger midrepetitive element. Fingerprinting individuals with known inbreeding coefficients indicated that SBI loci have relatively high mutation rates. The possibility that SBI is a fragment of a transposable element is discussed.
Stuart
J J
JJ
Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
De Gortari
M J
MJ
Hall
P S
PS
Maxwell
M E
ME
Mocelin
G
G
Brown
S J
SJ
Muir
W M
WM
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004247:DNA; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D014231:Tribolium / Q000235:genetics*
D004247:DNA