Recombinases and their use in gene activation, gene inactivation, and transgenesis

The site-specific recombinase FLP is used in Drosophila to precisely manipulate the genome, in particular, to eliminate gene function by mitotic recombination and to activate transgenes in discrete populations of cells. These approaches are already part of the standard tool kit for studying gene function. The number of applications for the FLP recombinase has increased over the years and further members of the large family of site-specific recombinases are being added to the arsenal of fly geneticists, most recently, the phiC31 integrase. This chapter will introduce these recombinases and describe how such instruments are utilized to accurately manipulate the Drosophila genome.