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The relationship between the rate of transposition and transposable element copy number for copia and Doc retrotransposons of Drosophila melanogaster

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1998

ELENA G. PASYUKOVA ,
SERGEY V. NUZHDIN  and
DMITRY A. FILATOV
ELENA G. PASYUKOVA
Affiliation:
Institute of Molecular Genetics of RAS, Moscow 123182, Russia Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695–7614, USA
SERGEY V. NUZHDIN
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695–7614, USA Center of Population Biology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
DMITRY A. FILATOV
Affiliation:
Institute of Molecular Genetics of RAS, Moscow 123182, Russia
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Abstract

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We present data on the relationship between the rate of transposition and copy number in the genome for the copia and Doc retrotransposons of Drosophila melanogaster. copia and Doc transposition rates were directly measured in sublines of the isogenic 2b line using individual males or females, respectively, with a range of copia copy numbers from 49 to 103 and Doc copy numbers from 112 to 235 per genome. Transposition rates varied from 3×10−4 to 2×10−2 for copia and from 2×10−4 to 2×10−3 for Doc. A positive relationship between transposition rate and copy number was found both for copia and for Doc when the data were analysed across all the 2b individuals; no significant correlation was found when the data were analysed across the subline means for both retrotransposons tested. Overall, correlation between copia and Doc transposition rate and their copy number in the genome, if any, was not negative, which would be expected if transposable elements (TEs) self-regulate their copy number. Thus, for copia and Doc no evidence for self-regulation was provided, and at least for these two TEs this hypothesis is not favoured for explaining the maintenance of the stable copy number that is characteristic for natural populations. The transposition rate of copia was measured twice, and a strong positive correlation between copy number and transposition rate both across individuals and subline means was found in 1994, while in 1995 no correlation was found. This fact is in agreement with the hypothesis that a positive correlation between the rate of transposition and TE copy number may be a default starting point for future host–TE coevolution.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , August 1998 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press