Transposition of maize AC/DS elements in vertebrates

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.