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. 1991 Oct;129(2):501–512. doi: 10.1093/genetics/129.2.501

The Maternally Inherited Regulation of P Elements in Drosophila Melanogaster Can Be Elicited by Two P Copies at Cytological Site 1a on the X Chromosome

S Ronsseray 1, M Lehmann 1, D Anxolabehere 1
PMCID: PMC1204639  PMID: 1660427

Abstract

Two P elements, inserted at the cytological site 1A on an X chromosome from an Drosophila melanogaster natural population (Lerik, USSR), were isolated by genetic methods to determine if they are sufficient to cause the P cytotype, the cellular condition that regulates the P family of transposable element. The resulting ``Lerik P(1A)'' line (abbreviated ``Lk-P(1A)'') carries only one P element in situ hybridization site but genomic Southern analysis indicates that this site contains two, probably full length, P copies separated by at least one EcoRI cleavage site. Because the Lk-P(1A) line shows some transposase activity, at least one of these two P elements is autonomous. The Lk-P(1A) line fully represses germline P element activity as judged by the GD sterility and sn(w) hypermutability assays; this result shows that the P cytotype can be elicited by only two P element copies. However, the Lk-P(1A) line does not fully repress Δ2-3(99B) transposase activity in the soma, although it fully represses Δ2-3(99B) transposase activity in the germline (Δ2-3(99B) is an in vitro modified P element that produces a high level of transposase activity in both the germline and the soma). The germline regulatory properties of the Lk-P(1A) line are maternally transmitted, even when the Δ2-3(99B) element is used as the source of transposase. By contrast, the partial regulation of Δ2-3(99B) somatic activity is chromosomally inherited. These results suggest that the regulatory P elements of the Lk-P(1A) line are inserted near a germline-specific enhancer.

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Selected References

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