Site-specific transgenesis by Cre-mediated recombination in Drosophila

• Published in: Nature methods Vol. 2; no. 8; pp. 583 - 585
• Main Authors: Oberstein, Adam, Pare, Adam, Kaplan, Leah, Small, Stephen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.08.2005; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Animals; Bioinformatics; Biological Microscopy; Biological Techniques; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology; brief-communication; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Drosophila; Drosophila Proteins - genetics; Drosophila Proteins - metabolism; Gene Targeting - methods; Gene Transfer Techniques; Genes, Reporter; Genetic aspects; Genetic transformation; Integrases - genetics; Integrases - metabolism; Life Sciences; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed - genetics; Nucleotide sequence; Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics; Proteomics; Recombinant Proteins - metabolism; Recombination, Genetic - genetics; Transgenes - genetics; Transposons; Viral Proteins - genetics; Viral Proteins - metabolism
• ISSN: 1548-7091; 1548-7105
• DOI: 10.1038/nmeth775

Transposons such as P elements are routinely used to stably transfer exogenous DNA (transgenes) into the Drosophila genome. Transgene insertion events, however, are essentially random and are subject to 'position effects' from nearby endogenous regulatory elements. Here we describe a microinjection-based system that uses Cre-mediated recombination to insert transgenes into precise genomic 'landing sites'. The system is simple and efficient, and will permit precise comparisons between multiple transgenic constructs.