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pubmed:abstractText |
P transposable elements in Drosophila are members of a larger class of mobile elements that move using a cut-and-paste mechanism. P-element transposase uses guanosine triphosphate (GTP) as a cofactor for transposition. Here, we use atomic force microscopy (AFM) to visualize protein-DNA complexes formed during the initial stages of P-element transposition. These studies reveal that GTP acts to promote assembly of the first detectable noncovalent precleavage synaptic complex. This initial complex then randomly and independently cleaves each P-element end. These data show that GTP acts to promote protein-DNA assembly, and may explain why P-element excision often leads to unidirectional deletions.
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pubmed:affiliation |
Division of Genetics, Genomics and Development, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
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pubmed:publicationType |
Journal Article,
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.,
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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