Identification of mariner-like elements in Sitodiplosis mosellana(Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)1

AbstractMariner-like element sequences were recovered from the genome of the orange wheat midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana(G?hin), with degenerate PCR primers designed to conserved regions of marinertransposases. The deduced amino acid sequences of the mariner-like transposases from S. mosellanashowed 67% to 78% identity with the peptide sequences of other marinertransposases. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the mariner-like elements from S. mosellanagrouped in the mauritiana subfamily of marinertransposons. Results from Southern blot analysis suggest mariner-like elements are at a moderate copy number in the genome of S. mosellana.