The maize transposable element Ac excises in progeny of transformed tobacco

To assess the potential of the maize transposable element Ac for gene tagging in heterologous plant species we monitored transcription, excision and transposition of the element in transgenic tobacco plants and their selfed progeny. Ac excised in the majority of primary regenerants and continued to excise in the first-generation progeny plants. In one primary regenerant Ac was transcribed but did not excise. Fourteen of eighteen kanamycin-resistant progeny from this plant showed Ac excision, suggesting that excision of Ac may have been activated during meiosis or in embryo development. This finding, together with the more general observation of continued Ac mobility in the progeny of transformed plants in which Ac had excised, suggests that Ac will be useful for gene tagging.