Abstract
The discovery of transposable elements (TEs) in the 1950s by B. McClintock implied the existence of cellular regulatory systems controlling TE activity. The discovery of flamenco (flam) an heterochromatic locus from Drosophila melanogaster and its ability to survey several TEs such as gypsy, ZAM, and Idefix contributed to peer deeply into the mechanisms of the genetic and epigenetic regulation of TEs. flam was the first cluster producing small RNAs to be discovered long before RNAi pathways were identified in 1998. As a result of the detailed genetic analyses performed by certain laboratories and of the sophisticated genetic tools they developed, this locus has played a major role in our understanding of piRNA mediated TE repression in animals. Here we review the first discovery of this locus and retrace decades of studies that led to our current understanding of the relationship between genomes and their TE targets.
Highlights
In the 1950s, Barbara McClintock first discovered transposable elements (TEs) by analyzing genetic stocks of corn that were phenotypically unstable
Just such a genetic instability affecting the genome of Drosophila melanogaster under the control of a locus called flamenco was first reported in 1983
Reversions of the ovoD mutation generating recessive ovo alleles were frequently observed which allowed fertile daughters to be recovered. These reversions were associated with the appearance of mutations in other loci, which could potentially be explained if such crosses were accompanied by the de novo mobilization of TEs
Summary
In the 1950s, Barbara McClintock first discovered transposable elements (TEs) by analyzing genetic stocks of corn that were phenotypically unstable. A mutation responsible for the high activity of ZAM and Idefix was identified in Rev. This mutation was localized at the basis of the X-chromosome close to flam (Figure 2; Desset et al, 2003).
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