Distribution of T1, Q, Pegasus and mariner transposable elements on the polytene chromosomes of PEST, a standard strain of Anopheles gambiae.

The chromosomal locations of four families of transposable elements, T1, Q, Pegasus and mariner, have been determined by in situ hybridization to polytene chromosomes of ovarian nurse cells of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae. As part of this effort, we have developed a vigorous pink-eyed laboratory strain of A. gambiae (PEST), rendered homozygous standard for chromosomal inversions on all autosomes. Ten different individuals of this strain were studied with each transposable element probe. The average number of hybridization sites per genome was 83.9 for T1, 63.4 for Q, 31.5 for Pegasus and 64.7 for mariner, excluding pericentric and centromeric regions. However, some degree of polymorphism was observed within each family such that, considering all ten individuals, 94 different sites were detected for T1, 82 sites for Q, 45 sites for Pegasus and 71 sites for mariner. The mean occupancy per site varied from 0.70 (Pegasus) to 0.91 (mariner), which, while significantly higher than that seen for transposable elements in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster, is comparable to that seen in established laboratory stocks. In addition, these element families were not randomly distributed. All but Pegasus were concentrated in centromeric heterochromatin and centromere-proximal euchromatin, most showed a deficit of hybridization sites in the distal section of chromosomes, and a significant proportion of sites were coincident between families. These results provide the first detailed examination of the cytogenetic location of transposable elements in a nondrosophilid insect, and, through comparison with the behavior of transposable elements in Drosophila, may provide insight into the interaction between elements and host. The mapped elements are also expected to serve as landmarks useful in integrating the developing physical map of the PEST strain with the chromosomal banding pattern.