Evolution of P Transposable Elements in Drosophila

摘要P转座子在果蝇中的进化：玛格丽特·G·基德威尔将研究果蝇自然种群中P转座子的地理分布、遗传和进化，并与现有的黑腹果蝇的平行数据进行比较。具体目标是1)表征当代地理种群中P元素的变异；2)确定P元素在促进结构基因组变化中的作用；以及3)评估自然选择在P元素进化中的作用。方法学包括遗传杂交、DNA测序和分子细胞遗传学分析。这是一个新的合作项目，由巴西南部的维拉·瓦伦特博士的实验室提供补充专业知识。转座因子(“跳跃基因”)在生物体中普遍存在。在过去的25年里，黑腹毛虫中的可转座P元件为我们的知识提供了非凡的进步。然而，这种种-元素联合是非常年轻的，具有有限的推广能力。相比之下，威利斯多尼已经拥有P元件数百万年了，有望提供关于转座元件的遗传和进化、它们的调节机制以及它们对宿主基因组进化的影响的基本新信息。了解转座元件在产生突变和染色体结构变化中的作用对于更好地理解种群变异、人类疾病机制以及可能的物种形成具有重要意义。

Abstract Evolution of P transposable elements in Drosophila P.I.: Margaret G. Kidwell The geographical distribution, genetics and evolution of P transposable elements will be investigated in natural populations of Drosophila willistoni for comparison with parallel existing data from Drosophila melanogaster. Specific objectives are to 1) characterize P element variation in contemporary geographical populations; 2) determine the role of P elements in promoting structural genomic changes; and 3) assess the role of natural selection in P element evolution. Methodology includes genetic crossing, DNA sequencing and molecular cytogenetic analysis. This is a new collaborative project with complementary expertise being provided by Dr. Vera Valente's laboratory in Southern Brazil. Transposable elements ("jumping genes") are ubiquitous in living organisms. During the last 25 years, transposable P elements in D. melanogaster have provided extraordinary advances in our knowledge. However, this species-element association is very young and has limited generalizability. In contrast, D. willistoni has hosted the P element for millions of years and is expected to provide basic new information on the genetics and evolution of transposable elements, their mechanisms of regulation and their impact on the evolution of host genomes. Knowledge of the role of transposable elements in the production of mutations and chromosomal structural changes has implications for better understanding of population variation, human disease mechanisms, and possibly speciation.