Chapter 12, Problem 27P

The Drosophila genome normally harbors about 40 P elements. Some of which are autonomous and some of which are nonautonomous. Review the structure of a P element (Fig. 12.27, p. 433).

a.	Suppose one of the P elements suffered a deletion of one of its inverted repeats. Would this mutation affect the ability of the P element to move? Would it affect the ability of other P elements to move?
b.	Suppose one of the autonomous P elements suffered a mutation in the splice acceptor site for the intron drawn in yellow color in Fig. 12.27, so that now this intron cannot be spliced out of the primary transcript. Would this mutation affect the ability of the P element to move? Would it also affect other P elements?
c.	Answer part (b) again, assuming that the P element in question was the only autonomous P element in the genome.
d.	As illustrated in Fig. 12.27, P elements are not normally mobile in somatic cells. Describe a mutant P element that could mobilize in somatic cells. Would the mutation also affect the ability of other P elements to mobilize in the same somatic cells?