ABSTRACT
Transposons are mobile genetic elements. Genetic instabilities have been found in bacteria, and in many cases led to the identification of transposable elements. Transposable elements are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom and share many common features, both structural and mechanistic, with mobile elements from other eukaryotes. The procedure of gene tagging by transposons is known as transposon tagging. Isolation of genes through transposon tagging involves insertion of a transposon within a gene. The major steps in isolation of gene by transposon tagging includes isolation of the transposable element, gene tagging, characterization of the transposon-induced mutation, isolation of the mutated gene by using transposon as a probe, and isolation of the intact gene by using sequences flanking the transposon as a probe. A major limitation in transposon tagging is the low frequency with which a specific gene may be targeted.
