Analysis of copia sequence variation within and between Drosophila species

The sequences of the 5' long-terminal repeat (LTR) and adjacent leaderregions of 27 full-length copia elements isolated from natural populationsof Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, and D. mauritiana are presented.Phylogenetic analyses indicate that although D. melanogaster copia elementsare distinct from those of D. simulans and D. mauritiana, the elements ofthese latter two species are not distinguishable from one another. LTRs andadjacent 5' leader regions of elements isolated from D. simulans and D.mauritiana are structurally similar to one another and carry substantialdeletional variation mapping to regions previously identified as being ofpotential importance for copia expression.