Functional characterization of -like elements from (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

is a transposable DNA element originally discovered in the cabbage looper moth (). The transposon can introduce exogenous fragments into a genome, constructing a transgenic organism. Nevertheless, the comprehensive analysis of endogenous -like elements (s) is important before using , because they may influence the genetic stability of transgenic lines Herein, we conducted a genome-wide analysis of s in the brown planthopper (BPH) (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), and identified a total of 28 sequences. All -like elements (s) were present as multiple copies in the genome of BPH. Among the identified s, had the highest copy number and it was distributed on five chromosomes. The full length of consisted of terminal inverted repeats and sub-terminal inverted repeats at both terminals, as well as a single open reading frame transposase encoding 546 amino acids. Furthermore, transposase caused precise excision and transposition in cultured insect cells and also restored the original TTAA target sequence after excision. A cross-recognition between the transposon and the transposon was also revealed in this study. These findings provide useful information for the construction of transgenic insect lines.