= Autonomous transposable element
An <autonomous transposable element> encodes functional machinery needed to mobilize itself in a compatible cellular setting. A <non-autonomous transposable element> instead lacks some of that machinery and can depend on a compatible source elsewhere. Autonomous describes this genetic capability; it does not mean independence from the host <biological cell>, suitable expression or all host <proteins>.<A unified classification system for eukaryotic transposable elements by Thomas Wicker and others>[Autonomous/non-autonomous classification across transposable-element groups]{ref}
The <P element> provides a concrete distinction. An autonomous element can encode <P-element transposase>, whereas a <P-element vector> can retain recognition sequences while depending on enzyme supplied separately. In a 1986 study, an approximately 87-kilodalton <protein> associated with a particular processed transcript was linked to excision of a <non-autonomous transposable element>. Combining immunochemical identification with an activity assay connected a coding product to a function.<Identification and immunochemical analysis of biologically active Drosophila P element transposase by D. C. Rio and others>[Abstract, large polypeptide and excision activity]{ref}
Imagine a host carrying an autonomous donor `A` and a recognizable but non-autonomous carrier `B`. Enzyme produced from `A` can supply the missing function for `B`; observing movement of `B` would not make `B` autonomous. Conversely, failure to observe movement during one experiment would not show that `A` lacks its coding machinery: expression and cellular conditions also affect the readout. The classification separates inherited capacity from an event measured under particular conditions.
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