The distribution of P-element sequences in Drosophila: the willistoni and saltans species groups

This report describes the distribution of P-element sequences among members of the closely related willistoni and saltans species groups of the subgenus Sophophora. Gel-blotting analyses showed that many, but not all, species from each of these groups possess sequences with homology to the P transposable element of Drosophila melanogaster, a sophophoran species belonging to the melanogaster species group. Furthermore, P-homologous fragments are present in lower numbers in willistoni- and saltans-group species than in D. melanogaster P strains, and, in some species of those two groups, exhibit species-characteristic hybridization patterns. On the basis of these results, it is proposed that P elements have had a long evolutionary history in the willistoni and saltans lineages.