Genetic transformation of the housefly Musca domestica with the lepidopteran derived transposon piggyBac

• Published in: Insect molecular biology Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 113 - 119
• Main Authors: Hediger, M, Niessen, M, Wimmer, E. A, Dübendorfer, A, Bopp, D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.04.2001
• Subjects: Animals; Baculoviridae; binding sites; DNA Transposable Elements; Drosophila melanogaster; Gene Expression; gene transfer; Genetic Markers; genetic transformation; Genetic Vectors; Green Fluorescent Proteins; Houseflies - genetics; insects; Larva; Lepidoptera; Luminescent Proteins - genetics; Moths - genetics; Musca domestica; piggyBac; Tenebrionidae; Transformation, Genetic; transgenesis; transposition (genetics); transposons; Tribolium castaneum
• ISSN: 0962-1075; 1365-2583
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2583.2001.00243.x

The piggyBac transposable element was successfully used for stable genetic transformation of the housefly Musca domestica. The construct contains the EGFP marker under the control of Pax‐6 binding sites, which can drive eye‐specific expression in insect species as distantly related as Drosophila melanogaster and Tribolium castaneum[Berghammer, A.J., Klingler, M. and Wimmer, E.A. (1999)Nature 402: 370–371]. We obtained seven independent integration events among 41 fertile G0Musca flies. Most of the transformed lines contained two or more chromosomal insertions of the EGFP marker which were stably inherited over more than 15 generations. piggyBac‐mediated transposition was verified by identifying the characteristic TTAA duplication at the insertion sites. This first report of stable transmission of a genetic marker in Musca confirms the use of this vector‐marker system for effective gene transfer in a broad range of insect species.