Comparison of methods for the determination of the transposition rate of mobile elements

There is wide-spread interest in understanding the rate of transposable element movement within populations and between species. A recent study using interprecific crosses between D. buzzatii and D. koepferae indicated that transposition rates in hybrids may be quite high. However, we suggest caution should be taken in this interpretation since AFLP methods to detect transposition events may lead to overestimated rate estimates. Comparative analyses of genome instability received by different methods suggest that transposition rates can be higher in intraspecific crosses compared to interspecific crosses.