Stable transformation of Drosophila Kc cells to antibiotic resistance with the bacterial neomycin resistance gene.

By transfection with a plasmid containing the APH(3') gene under control of the HSV I thymidine kinase promoter, independent series of stably transformed Drosophila cells were established and grown for more than one and a half years under highly selective pressure (2 mg G 418/ml). Analysis of transformed Drosophila cell DNAs shows that the APH(3') gene was integrated into the genome. Neomycin phosphotransferase is constitutively expressed in transformed cells. This efficient selective system by a dominant marker makes it possible to introduce, by cotransfection, any DNA sequence of interest into the genome of cultured Drosophila cells.