OM Mutations in DROSOPHILA ANANASSAE Are Linked to Insertions of a Transposable Element.

It has been hypothesized that Om mutability in Drosophila ananassae (involving spontaneous mutation at 20 loci, resulting in semidominant, nonpleiotropic eye morphology defects) was due to insertion of a transposable element, tom. One particularly unstable X-linked Om allele produced several derivatives, one of which has a more extreme Om phenotype and was accompanied by a singed bristle mutant, sn( 9g). DNA probes from the sn locus of D. melanogaster were used to clone the homologous region of D. ananassae. Analysis of sn(9g) DNA detected a 6.5-kb insert. Genomic Southern blotting and in situ hybridization techniques showed that this insert is repetitive and dispersed. The existence of the tom element is supported by genetic mapping that established homology between the 6.5-kb sn(9g) insert and Om mutants at the four X-linked loci tested.