Hermes, a functional non-drosophilid insect gene vector from Musca domestica

Journal Article · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Genetics

OSTI ID:539430

O`Brochta, D A; Warren, W D; Saville, K J ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, College Park, MD (United States); and others

Hermes is a short inverted repeat-type transposable element from the house fly, Musca domestica. Using an extra-chromosomal transpositional recombination assay, we show that Hermes elements can accurately transpose in M. domestica embryos. To test the ability of Hermes to function in species distantly related to M. domestica we used a nonautonomous Hermes element containing the Drosophila melanogaster white (w{sup +}) gene and created D. melanogaster germline transformants. Transgenic G{sub 1} insects were recovered from 34.6% of the fertile G{sub 0} adults developing from microinjected w{sup -} embryos. This transformation rate is comparable with that observed using P or hobo vectors in D. melanogaster; however, many instances of multiple-element insertions and large clusters were observed. Genetic mapping, Southern blotting, polytene chromosome in situ hybridization and DNA sequence analyses confirmed that Hermes elements were chromosomally integrated in transgenic insects. Our data demonstrate that Hermes elements transpose at high rates in D. melanogaster and may be an effective gene vector and gene-tagging agent in this species and distantly related species of medical and agricultural importance. 46 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

• OSTI ID: 539430
• Journal Information: Genetics, Journal Name: Genetics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 142; ISSN GENTAE; ISSN 0016-6731
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
CHROMOSOMES
DNA SEQUENCING
DROSOPHILA
EMBRYOS
FLIES
GENE RECOMBINATION
GENES
GENETIC ENGINEERING
GENETIC MAPPING
HYBRIDIZATION
IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION
INSECTS