Chromosomal distribution and population dynamics of the 412 retrotransposon in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster

The localization of the insertion sites of the 412 retrotransposable element was analysed by in situ hybridization to the polytene chromosomes of the genomes of males from a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. Non-parametric statistical tests do not reveal any particular distribution of the insertion sites over the chromosomes, suggesting an apparently random distribution of the 412 element. Aggregation and dispersion tests were highly significant with data of copy number (when all genomes are pooled, many copies may be at a given site), suggesting the existence of sites with high insertion frequency. Comparison with other data from the literature confirms the tendency for a low proportion of insertions on the X chromosome in comparison with the autosomes, a result in agreement with selection acting against the detrimental effect of the 412 element insertions.