Transposition of the piggyBac element in embryos of Drosophila melanogaster, Aedes aegypti and Trichoplusia ni

The Lepidopteran transposable element piggyBac is being recognized as a use ful vector for genetic engineering in a variety of insect species. This tra nsposon can mediate transformation in the Dipteran species Ceratitis capita ta, and can potentially serve as a versatile vector for transformation of a wide variety of insect species. Using a plasmid-based interplasmid transpo sition assay, we have demonstrated that this transposon, of the short inver ted terminal repeat type, is capable of transposition in embryos of three d ifferent insect species, Drosophila melanogaster, the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, and its host of origin, Trichoplusia ni. This assay can con firm the potential utility of piggyBac as a gene transfer tool in a given i nsect species, and provides an experimental model for assessing molecular m echanisms of transposon movement.