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. 1988 May;119(1):85–94. doi: 10.1093/genetics/119.1.85

Molecular Analysis of an Unstable P Element Insertion at the Singed Locus of Drosophila Melanogaster: Evidence for Intracistronic Transposition of a P Element

R S Hawley 1, R A Steuber 1, C H Marcus 1, R Sohn 1, D M Baronas 1, M L Cameron 1, A E Zitron 1, J W Chase 1
PMCID: PMC1203348  PMID: 2840332

Abstract

In a companion study, a number of P element insertions into the singed locus were characterized. Here is reported a detailed analysis of the structure and mutability of another P element insertion at sn, known as sn(cm). Under conditions which mobilize P elements, sn(cm) mutates at high frequency to both wild-type (sn(+)) and to a much more extreme allele (sn(ext)). Wild-type revertants appear to represent precise or nearly precise excisions of the P element. Certainly two, and most likely all five, of the sn(ext) alleles studied result from the insertion of a duplicate copy of this P element into a nearby site in an inverted orientation. We propose a model in which both the sn(+) and sn(ext) mutational events can be explained by excision of the P element from one chromatid followed by reintegration into the sister chromatid at a nearby site (intracistronic transposition). Finally, it is shown that the sn(ext) alleles are themselves unstable and the structure of a resulting chromosome aberration is examined.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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