Distribution of the mariner element among Drosophilidae species is investigated using three different techniques (squash blots, Southern blots and PCR amplification). Results demonstrate the distribution of mariner is not uniform and does not follow the phylogeny of the host species. Analysis of geographical distributions of the element shows it is mainly present in Asia and Africa.
Population biology and molecular evolution of the mariner element in the eight species of the melanogaster subgroup of the Drosophila subgenus Sophophora has been studied. The element occurs in D.simulans, D.mauritiana, D.sechellia, D.teissieri and D.yakuba, but not D.melanogaster, D.erecta or D.orena. Sequence comparisons suggest that the element was present in the ancestor of the species subgroup and was lost in some of the lineages. Most species that contain active elements also contain inactive elements.
D.sechellia contains only two Dsec\mariner elements that are at fixed sites in the genome. One element contains three deletions and is missing much of the 3' end of the element, the other is the full length of 1286bp. The sequence of the full-length element is polymorphic in populations of D.sechellia.
D.sechellia probably has two copies of Dsec\mariner per genome, at fixed positions in the genome, and one copy probably has a deletion of most of the 3' half of the element.
Distribution of the mariner element among Drosophilidae species is investigated using three different techniques (squash blots, Southern blots and PCR amplification). Results demonstrate the distribution of mariner is not uniform and does not follow the phylogeny of the host species. Analysis of geographical distributions of the element shows it is mainly present in Asia and Africa.
Population biology and molecular evolution of the mariner element in the eight species of the melanogaster subgroup of the Drosophila subgenus Sophophora has been studied. The element occurs in D.simulans, D.mauritiana, D.sechellia, D.teissieri and D.yakuba, but not D.melanogaster, D.erecta or D.orena. Sequence comparisons suggest that the element was present in the ancestor of the species subgroup and was lost in some of the lineages. Most species that contain active elements also contain inactive elements.
Comparison of active and inactive mariner elements from D.simulans, D.mauritiana and D.sechellia suggests that the mariner elements in D.mauritiana and D.sechellia are derived from D.simulans.
D.sechellia contains only two Dsec\mariner elements that are at fixed sites in the genome. One element contains three deletions and is missing much of the 3' end of the element, the other is the full length of 1286bp. The sequence of the full-length element is polymorphic in populations of D.sechellia.
D.sechellia probably has two copies of Dsec\mariner per genome, at fixed positions in the genome, and one copy probably has a deletion of most of the 3' half of the element.
The distribution of the mariner transposable element in the genus Drosophila has been examined. Sequences hybridising to Dmau\mariner are present in D.mauritiana, D.simulans, D.sechellia, D.yakuba and D.teissieri, but not D.melanogaster, D.erecta and D.orena.