Distribution and structure of cloned P elements from theDrosophila melanogasterP strain π2

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Abstract
Summary: P transposable elements ofDrosophila melanogastercloned from the strong P strain π2have been analysed. The structures and chromosomal locations of 26 of the 30–50 elements estimated to be present in π2 have been determined. At one location two elements are inserted 100 base pairs (bp) apart, and in a second location two elements are only separated by the 8 bp duplicated upon P-element insertion. In addition to 2.9 kilobasepair (kbp) elements, elements with 14 different internal deletions from 1.3 to 2.3 kbp in size have been isolated. There are 7 copies of the 2–9 kbp element, 2 copies each of 5 internally deleted elements and a single copy of 9 internally deleted elements. One of the elements found twice is the KP element, which may play a role in the regulation of hybrid dysgenesis in strains which contain many copies of this element. Apart from internal deletions the elements are extremely homogeneous in DNA sequence, with only 2 single base polymorphisms detected twice each in over 16 kbp of P-element sequence. Although transpositions are infrequent in an inbred P cytotype strain such as π2, the distribution of these cloned elements indicates that when the genomic library was made, the strain was polymorphic with respect to element location. The distribution and structures of the element are discussed with respect to models for regulation of P-element transposition.