biostudies-literatureSrivastav SPNICHD NIH HHSNIA NIH HHSNational Institutes of HealthNIH HHSe49948https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6917496biostudies-literatureUnknown8Without transposon-silencing Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), transposition causes an ovarian atrophy syndrome in Drosophila called gonadal dysgenesis (GD). Harwich (Har) strains with P-elements cause severe GD in F1 daughters when Har fathers mate with mothers lacking P-element-piRNAs (i.e. ISO1 strain). To address the mystery of why Har induces severe GD, we bred hybrid Drosophila with Har genomic fragments into the ISO1 background to create HISR-D or HISR-N lines that still cause Dysgenesis or are Non-dysgenic, respectively. In these lines, we discovered a highly truncated P-element variant we named 'Har-P' as the most frequent de novo insertion. Although HISR-D lines steLifeHar-P, a short P-element variant, weaponizes P-transposase to severely impair Drosophila development.PMC6917496R21-HD088792R01-AG052465R21 HD088792R01 AG052465Rahman RMa QPierre JBandyopadhyay SLau NCSrivastav SPfalseHar-P, a short P-element variant, weaponizes P-transposase to severely impair Drosophila development.Without transposon-silencing Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), transposition causes an ovarian atrophy syndrome in Drosophila called gonadal dysgenesis (GD). Harwich (Har) strains with P-elements cause severe GD in F1 daughters when Har fathers mate with mothers lacking P-element-piRNAs (i.e. ISO1 strain). To address the mystery of why Har induces severe GD, we bred hybrid Drosophila with Har genomic fragments into the ISO1 background to create HISR-D or HISR-N lines that still cause Dysgenesis or are Non-dysgenic, respectively. In these lines, we discovered a highly truncated P-element variant we named 'Har-P' as the most frequent de novo insertion. Although HISR-D lines st2019-01-01T00:00:00Z2019 Dec2026-04-14T21:08:34.292Z2020-05-22T00:05:07ZS-EPMC69174963184564910.7554/eLife.49948