Transposition of Tc1 in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

We have identified a strain of Caenorhabditis elegans in which the transposable element Tc1 is genetically active. Most spontaneous mutations affecting the unc-54 myosin heavy chain gene of C. elegans variety Bergerac are due to insertions of Tc1 within unc-54. The Bergerac genome contains an unusually high number of Tc1 elements, but this is not responsible for transpositional activity. Another variety of C. elegans, strain DH424, contains an equally high number of Tc1 elements, but transpositions are not detected. Tc1 insertion mutations are genetically unstable. They revert to unc-54+ in both germ-line and somatic cells. Germ-line revertants are wild type and contain precise or nearly precise excisions of Tc1. Somatic revertants are genetic mosaics; they contain small patches of revertant muscle tissue in otherwise mutant animals. The pattern of mosaicism often allows us to know when and where during muscle development the excisions occur. Somatic reversion can be over 1000-fold more frequent than germ-line reversion.