The geographical distribution, genetics and evolution of P transposable elements will be investigated in natural populations of Drosophila willistoni for comparison with parallel existing data from Drosophila melanogaster. Specific objectives are to 1) characterize P element variation in contemporary geographical populations; 2) determine the role of P elements in promoting structural genomic changes; and 3) assess the role of natural selection in P element evolution. Methodology includes genetic crossing, DNA sequencing and molecular cytogenetic analysis. This is a new collaborative project with complementary expertise being provided by Dr. Vera Valente's laboratory in Southern Brazil.
Transposable elements ("jumping genes") are ubiquitous in living organisms. During the last 25 years, transposable P elements in D. melanogaster have provided extraordinary advances in our knowledge. However, this species-element association is very young and has limited generalizability. In contrast, D. willistoni has hosted the P element for millions of years and is expected to provide basic new information on the genetics and evolution of transposable elements, their mechanisms of regulation and their impact on the evolution of host genomes. Knowledge of the role of transposable elements in the production of mutations and chromosomal structural changes has implications for better understanding of population variation, human disease mechanisms, and possibly speciation.
