Capture of flanking DNA by a P element in Drosophila melanogaster: creation of a transposable element.

A 6.1-kilobase insertion into the rudimentary (r) gene was cloned and partially sequenced. The insertion consists of a 703-base-pair (bp) P element next to a 5.4-kilobase single-copy sequence. The normal position of the single-copy sequence is near the tip of the X chromosome. Upon insertion into the r gene, this chimeric element generated an 8-bp target-site duplication, characteristic of P elements. At the non-P-element end of the insertion, the first 8 bp are identical to the first 8 bp of the inverted terminal repeats of the P element. Thus, this element has inverted terminal repeats of 8 bp. This large element can excise from the r gene under conditions of hybrid dysgenesis, which indicates that it behaves like a normal P element. These data support the conclusion that a normally stable single-copy sequence has now become unstable and duplicated within the genome.