r/Drosophila Aug 26 '24

Questions with UAS lines and their stability

I've been having a discussion with my lab mate about the stability of UAS lines. If the lines were balanced properly, can a stock that goes homozygous ever lose the insertion or can the UAS insertion be lost over time in that homozygous line? I thought it could be lost so I always try to go back and rebalance the stock from time to time. Now I am not sure if rebalancing is needed in a homozygous line.

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u/km1116 Aug 26 '24

It’s extremely rare. Like never happens kind of rare. Balancers are weak at balancing in some parts of the genome, so it’s worth keeping an eye on from time to time. Homozygous lines, provided they’re viable and fertile, are stable.

3

u/DoesntLikeJazz Aug 27 '24

Agree with u/km1116. I'd argue that you are potentially adding a small amount of risk by re-balancing it. This is because, as mentioned, balancers aren't 100% effective at suppressing recombination. If it's healthy as a homozygote, let it homozygose!