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. 1999 Feb;151(2):761–771. doi: 10.1093/genetics/151.2.761

High-frequency retrotransposition of a marked I factor in Drosophila melanogaster correlates with a dynamic expression pattern of the ORF1 protein in the cytoplasm of oocytes.

M Seleme 1, I Busseau 1, S Malinsky 1, A Bucheton 1, D Teninges 1
PMCID: PMC1460479  PMID: 9927467

Abstract

To study the expression of the I factor, a non-long-terminal-repeat retrotransposon responsible for I-R hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster, we have tagged the ORF1 protein (ORF1p) by inserting the HA epitope in its N-terminal region. In transgenic flies, this modification is compatible with a high rate of autonomous transposition and allows direct estimation of the transposition frequency. I factor transposes in the germline of females (SF) that are daughters from crosses between I strain males (which contain active copies of the I factor) and R strain females (which do not). We analyzed the expression pattern of ORF1p by indirect immunofluorescence. Its expression correlates with retrotransposition. During oogenesis ORF1p appears unexpectedly as a cytoplasmic product, which accumulates with a specific pattern into the oocyte. A comparison of the expression patterns under conditions that modify the transposing activity of the element clarifies some aspects of I-factor functioning in the transposition process.

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Selected References

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