P transposable elements are extremely useful tools for studying the Drosophila genome. In addition to their ability to mutagenize genes, P insertions provide single copy molecular-genetic entry points for structure and sequence analysis, which is especially useful to studies of regions rich in repeated DNA.

We have generated >600 heterochromatic insertions of the SUPorP element, named KV lines. We have mapped KV insertions to specific cytological bands using Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) on mitotic chromosomes. The Gene Disruption Project has determined genomic sequences flanking the KV insertions by inverse PCR and has mapped the insertion sites by aligning these sequences to the heterochromatin scaffolds. Combining FISH and flanking sequence data has been used to map heterochromatin scaffolds to specific cytogenetic bands.

You can download the KV data sorted either by the KV-ID , Celera scaffold ID, gene, or the FISH-determined cytological region. Please see the README for a description of the columns in the file. You can also get an Excel-format spreadsheet with all of the KV data.

Many KV lines will eventually be available through the Bloomington Stock Center ; until then, please contact the DHGP to order specific heterochromatic P insertions.

If you would like to contribute heterochromatin P-element data to add to the annotation record, please contact us.