Transfer of Drosophila melanogaster transponsable genetic element mdg-4 into plant cells

The copia-like element mdg-4, as a component of the Drosophila genomic fragment Dm111, was cloned into the vector pIB16. The chimaeric plasmid pIB16 [Dm111] was used to transform tobacco cells as a cointegrate with pTiC58 (Agrobacterium tumefaciens), pTiC58::pIB16 [Dm111]. The growth properties of primary crown-gall tumours were followed, and the DNA of one Nicotiana tabacum transformant was further analysed. The DNA/DNA molecular hybridization of digests of genomic DNA with 32P-labelled pDm111 probe demonstrated full-length insertion of Dm111 into N. tabacum genome. We were not able to detect any common sequence with Dm111 in untransformed tobacco cells.