Transposition of maize AC/DS elements in vertebrates

1. A method of integrating a polynucleotide into the DNA of a vertebrate cell comprising:

introducing into the vertebrate cell a modified Ac transposase or a nucleic acid encoding the modified Ac transposase, wherein the modified Ac transposase comprises (i) a nuclear localization signal (NLS) and (ii) a truncated Ac transposase, wherein the NLS is fused to the N-terminus of the truncated Ac transposase, wherein the NLS localizes a transposition reaction to the nucleus of the vertebrate cell and wherein the truncated Ac transposase comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:8 and catalyzes the integration of the polynucleotide into the DNA of the vertebrate cell, wherein the NLS comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:9;

introducing into the vertebrate cell a nucleic acid fragment comprising the polynucleotide positioned between 5′ end and 3′ end cis-required sequences of a Ds element that bind to the modified Ac transposase; and

integrating the polynucleotide into the DNA of the vertebrate cell.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 5′ end and 3′ end cis-required sequences of the Ds element are selected from the group consisting of:

(a) 5′ end and 3′ end cis-required sequences that are part of a Ds element;

(b) the Ds 5′ end cis-required sequence having the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:45 and the Ds 3′ end cis-required sequence having the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:49; and

(c) the Ds 5′ end cis-required sequence having the nucleotide sequence set forth in nucleotides 3657-3903 of SEQ ID NO:1 and the Ds 3′ end cis-required sequence having the nucleotide sequence set forth in nucleotides 43-412 of SEQ ID NO:1.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid encoding the modified Ac transposase is introduced into a vertebrate cell and stably integrated into its genome before the nucleic acid fragment containing the Ds 5′ end and 3′ end cis-required sequences is introduced into the vertebrate cell.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modified Ac transposase is introduced into the vertebrate cell.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid encoding the modified Ac transposase is introduced into the vertebrate cell.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid fragment is part of a vector.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide comprises at least a portion of an open reading frame.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide comprises at least one expression control region.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the expression control region is selected from the group consisting of a promoter, an enhancer or a silencer.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide comprises a promoter operably linked to at least a portion of an open reading frame.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the DNA into which the polynucleotide is capable of integrating is the cell genome.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein introducing the polynucleotide to the cell comprises using a method selected from the group consisting of microinjection, electroporation, combining the nucleic acid fragment with cationic lipid vesicles or DNA condensing reagents, and incorporating the nucleic acid fragment into a viral vector and contacting the viral vector with the cell.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NLS comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NLS comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:9.

15. The method of claim 3 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:10 or the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:36.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:10.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:36.

18. The method of claim 5 , wherein the nucleic acid is an RNA.

19. The method of claim 5 , wherein the nucleic acid is a DNA.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:10 or the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:36.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:10.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the nucleic acid comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:36.

23. The method of claim 13 , wherein the modified Ac transposase comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:20.

24. The method of claim 14 , wherein the modified Ac transposase comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:44.

25. The method of claim 9 , wherein the promoter comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in nucleotides 436-2674 of SEQ ID NO:1.

26. The method of claim 10 , wherein the promoter comprises the nucleotide sequence set forth in nucleotides 436-2674 of SEQ ID NO:1.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vertebrate cell is selected from the group consisting of a pluripotent cell, a totipotent cell, an oocyte, a lymphocyte, a hepatocycte, a neural cell, a muscle cell and a blood cell.

28. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vertebrate cell is a cell of an egg or a cell of an embryo.

29. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vertebrate is selected from the group consisting of a fish, a bird or a mammal.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the fish is selected from the group consisting of salmon, trout, tuna, halibut, catfish, zebrafish, medaka, carp, tilapia, goldfish, and loach.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein the fish is zebrafish.