The geographical distribution of P-M hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster

International audienc

Séquences homologues à l'élément P chez des espèces de Drosophila du groupe obscura et chez Scaptomyza pallida (Drosophilidae)

International audienc

Recurrent recruitment of the THAP DNA-binding domain and molecular domestication of the P-transposable element

The recently described THAP domain motif characterizes a DNA-binding domain (DBD) that is widely conserved in human and in animals. It presents a similarity with the DBD of the P element transposase of D. melanogaster. We show here that the P Drosophila neogenes derived from P-transposable elements conserve the THAP domain. Moreover, secondary rearrangements by exon shuffling indicate the recurrent recruitment of this domain by the host genome. As P sequences and THAP genes are found together in many animal genomes, we discuss the possibility that the THAP proteins have acquired their domain as a result of recurrent molecular domestication of P-transposable elements