Open AccessRecognition of Escherichia coli attTn7 by transposon Tn7: lack of specific sequence requirements at the point of Tn7 insertion
Author(s) -
E Gringauz,
Karina A. Orle,
Candace S. Waddell,
Nancy L. Craig
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.652
H-Index - 246
eISSN - 1067-8832
pISSN - 0021-9193
DOI - 10.1128/jb.170.6.2832-2840.1988
Subject(s) - transposable element , biology , terminator (solar) , genetics , point mutation , escherichia coli , transposase , mutant , transcription (linguistics) , gene , insertion sequence , microbiology and biotechnology , ionosphere , linguistics , philosophy , physics , astronomy
Transposon Tn7 inserts at high frequency into a specific site in the Escherichia coli chromosome called attTn7. We show that the point of Tn7 insertion in attTn7 lies within the transcriptional terminator of the bacterial glmS gene. We have exploited the glmS transcription terminator to isolate mutants with altered sequences at the point of Tn7 insertion and have used these mutants to show that the nucleotide sequence at the point of Tn7 insertion is irrelevant to attTn7 target activity. Thus, the nucleotides which provide attTn7 target activity are distinct from the point of Tn7 insertion. We have also examined the effect of transcription on the capacity of attTn7 to act as a target for Tn7 transposition. Our results suggest that transcription of attTn7 does not modulate its Tn7 target activity.