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BACKGROUND
P elements tend to insert much more frequently in euchromatic than heterochromatic sites. Chris Yan (download PDF) and Sasha Konev (download PDF) have developed a method for efficient recovery of centric insertions based on heterochromatin-induced, mosaic silencing (variegation) of the yellow gene, which controls body color.
Comparison of the results of nine different genetic schemes demonstrated that starting site and sex chromosome constitution during the transposition and screening stages affect the recovery of variegating insertions. The highest frequencies were observed when the P element jumped from heterochromatic sites on the Y or 2nd chromosomes; up to 37% of all recovered insertions variegated. These are remarkable frequencies, considering that roughly 30% of the Drosophila genome is heterochromatic. We propose that the increased recovery of variegating insertions from heterochromatic starting sites may result from physical proximity of different heterochromatic regions in germ line nuclei, or the association of mobilizing elements with heterochromatin proteins.
From the FISH analysis, we have determined that 98% of the variegating insertions are located in centric heterochromatin, and not euchromatin or telomeres. There are now >600 centric insertions in our collection. The insertions are broadly distributed in the centric heterochromatin; 48/61 bands have at least one insertion. This result suggests that recovery of Ps in most heterochromatic bands would result from localizing more insertions. Mapping of the remaining variegators will also determine if the different schemes affected the distribution of insertion sites.
