Characterization of two full-sized P elements from Drosophila sturtevanti and Drosophila prosaltans

Previously, only partial P element sequences have been reported in the saltans group of Drosophila but in this paper we report two complete P element sequences from Drosophila sturtevanti and Drosophila prosaltans. The divergence of these sequences from the canonical P element of Drosophila melanogaster is about 31% at the nucleotide level. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that both elements belong to a clade of divergent sequences from the saltans and willistoni groups previously described by other authors.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq