Transposable element interactions in insects: crossmobilization of hobo and Hermes

There are four non-drosophilid insect gene vector systems available that ha ve been constructed from the short inverted repeat-type transposable elemen ts Minos, piggyBac, mariner and Hermes. These elements (with the possible e xception of piggyBac) are members of transposable element families that app ear to be widespread in nature. Because these transposable element families are large it is possible that an insect species targeted for transformatio n will contain related transposable elements. The data presented here begin to address directly the question of interaction between diverged but relat ed members of transposable element families. We tested the ability of the h AT elements hobo and Hermes to interact and cause crossmobilization. Using plasmid-based and chromosome-based element mobility assays we found that th e terminal sequences of hobo and Hermes were almost equally good substrates for hobo transposase. However, this ability to crossmobilize was not recip rocal. Hermes transposase was only rarely able to cause the excision of hob o elements from plasmids and was never observed from germline chromosomes. These results have important implications for transgenic insect studies in the future.