Postintegration stability of the silkworm piggyBac transposon

Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2014 Jul:50:18-23. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2014.03.006. Epub 2014 Apr 13.

Abstract

The piggyBac transposon is the most widely used vector for generating transgenic silkworms. The silkworm genome contains multiple piggyBac-like sequences that might influence the genetic stability of transgenic lines. To investigate the postintegration stability of piggyBac in silkworms, we used random insertion of the piggyBac [3 × p3 EGFP afm] vector to generate a W chromosome-linked transgenic silkworm, named W-T. Results of Southern blot and inverse PCR revealed the insertion of a single copy in the W chromosome of W-T at a standard TTAA insertion site. Investigation of 11 successive generations showed that all W-T females were EGFP positive and all males were EGFP negative; PCR revealed that the insertion site was unchanged in W-T offspring. These results suggested that endogenous piggyBac-like elements did not affect the stability of piggyBac inserted into the silkworm genome.

Keywords: PiggyBac; Silkworm; Stability; Transgenic; W chromosome-linked.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified / genetics*
  • Base Sequence
  • Bombyx / genetics*
  • DNA Transposable Elements / genetics*
  • Female
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics
  • Male
  • Transgenes

Substances

  • DNA Transposable Elements
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins