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Variant insertion element IS1 generates 8-base pair duplications of the target sequence

Nature volume 294, pages 374–376 (1981)Cite this article

Abstract

Transposition in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes is characterized by the generation of short, direct duplications of the target DNA sequence at the integration site of the transposable element1. For example, the bacterial insertion sequence IS1, or the IS1-flanked transposon Tn9, generates 9-base pair (bp) repeats during either transposition or cointegration2–8. All the transposable elements so far sequenced are characterized by the presence at their ends, of a perfect, or near-perfect, inverted repeat sequence, which is ∼30 bp long1 and is thought to be important for recognition by enzymes during transposition. While studying IS1 -mediated cointegration9–12, we found an IS1 carrying a single base pair change in the terminal inverted repeat sequence. We now report that it generates 8-bp duplications of the target sequence, a finding which confirms the importance of the inverted repeat for transposition and which, because one end only of the IS1 is changed, has implications for the mechanism of transposition by IS1.

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Author notes

  1. Roberto Marcoli

    Present address: ISREC, Chemin des Boveresses, CH-1066, Epalinges s/Lausanne, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbiology Department, Biozentrum, University of Basle, Klingelberstrasse 70, CH-4056, Basle, Switzerland

    Shigeru Iida, Roberto Marcoli & Thomas A. Bickle

Authors
  1. Shigeru Iida
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  2. Roberto Marcoli
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  3. Thomas A. Bickle
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Iida, S., Marcoli, R. & Bickle, T. Variant insertion element IS1 generates 8-base pair duplications of the target sequence. Nature 294, 374–376 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294374a0

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