Summary
We have shown that the IS15 element, first detected in Salmonella ordonez and previously designated IS1522 (Labigne-Roussel et al. 1981), could transpose, with an approximate frequency of 5x10-5, to various sites of different replicons in an Escherichia coli host deficient for general homologous recombination. Physical mapping with restriction endonucleases of this 1,500 base pairs (bp) transposable module indicated the presence of two, possibly contiguous, directly repeated internal sequences, at least 480 bp in size. IS15 could generate in vivo, by intramolecular recombination between the two direct repeats, IS15-Δ, which is 830 bp in size. The reverse transition, IS15-Δ to IS15, was not observed.
The two related structural forms of IS15 were detected, by Southern hybridization, on plasmids belonging to various incompatibility groups (Inc6-C, I1, 7-M, and Y) isolated from phylogenetically remote pathogenic bacterial genera (Escherichia coli, Salmonella panama, Enterobacter cloacae, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus).
Whereas IS15 could promote its own transposition and transposition of DNA fragments it flanked, IS15-Δ resulting from the 670 bp ‘clean’ deletion and representing the most common natural deletion derivative could only induce replicon fusion. It appears, therefore, that the two structural configurations of IS15 have evolved to play, by transposition, distinct and complementary roles in bacterial evolution.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bachmann BJ, Brooks Low K, Taylor AL (1976) Recalibrated linkage map of Escherichia coli K12. Bacteriol Rev 40:116–167
Bickle TA, Ineichen K (1980) The DNA sequence recognised by BglI. Gene 9:205–212
Bolivar F, Rodriguez RL, Greene PJ, Betlach MC, Heyneker HL, Boyer HW (1977) Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II A multipurpose cloning system. Gene 2:95–113
Boyer HW, Roulland-Dussoix D (1969) A complementation analysis of the restriction and modification of DNA in E. coli. J Mol Biol 41:459–472
Briaux-Gerbaud S, Gerbaud G, Jaffé-Brachet A (1981) Transposition of a tetracycline resistance determinant (Tn1523) and cointegration events mediated by the pIP231 plasmid in Escherichia coli. Gene 15:139–149
Chabbert YA, Gerbaud GR (1974) Surveillance épidémiologique des plasmides responsables de la résistance au chloramphénicol de Salmonella typhi. Ann Microbiol (Paris) 125A:153–166
Chabbert YA, Roussel A, Witchitz JL, Sanson-Le Pors MJ, Courvalin P (1979) Restriction endonuclease generated patterns of plasmids belonging to incompatbility groups Il, C, M, and N; application to plasmid taxonomy and epidemiology. In: Timmis and Pühler (eds) Plasmids of medical environmental and commercial importance. Elsevier/North-Holland Biochemical Press, Amsterdam, p 183
Chabbert YA, Scavizzi MR, Witchitz JL, Gerbaud GR, Bouanchaud DH (1972) Incompatibility groups and the classification of Fi- resistance factors. J Bacteriol 112:666–675
Chandler M, Clerget M, Galas DJ (1982) The transposition frequency of ISI flanked transposons is a function of their size. J Mol Biol 154:229–243
Courvalin P, Fiandt M, Davies J (1978) DNA relationships between genes coding for aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes from antibiotic-producing bacteria and R plasmids. In: Microbiology. American Society for Microbiology, p 262
Courvalin P, Shaw WV, Jacob AE (1978) Plasmid mediated mechanisms of resistance to aminoglycoside-aminocyclitol antibiotics and to chloramphenicol in group D streptococci. Antimicrob Agent Chemother 13:716–725
Davies J, Smith DI (1978) Plasmid-mediated resistance to antimicrobial agents. Annu Rev Microbiol 32:469–518
Davis RW, Botstein D, Roth JR (1980) Advanced Bacterial genetics. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, p 140
Denhardt DT (1966) A membrane-filter technique for the detection of complementary DNA. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 23:641–646
Falkow S, Guerry P, Edges RW, Datta N (1974) Polynucleotide sequence relationships among plasmids of the I compatibility complex. J Gen Microbiol 85:65–76
Ghosal D, Gross J, Saedler H (1979) DNA sequence of IS2-7 and generation of mini-insertions by replication of IS2 sequences. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 43:1192–1193
Goldstein FW, Acar JF, Gerbaud GR, Chabbert YA (1975) Transferable trimethoprim resistance mediated by plasmids of various incompatibility groups. In: 15th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Washington, DC, American Society for Microbiology, p 169
Gots JS (1945) The detection of penicillinase production properties of microorganisms. Science 102:309
Jacob AE, Hobbs SJ (1974) Conjugal transfer of plasmid borne multiple antibiotic resistance in Streptococcus faecalis var. Zymogenes. J Bacteriol 117:360–372
Jordan E, Saedler H, Starlinger P (1968) 0°-and strong-polar mutations in the gal operon are insertions. Mol Gen Genet 102:353–363
Kleckner N (1981) Transposable elements in prokaryotes. Ann Rev Genet 15:341–404
Labigne-Roussel A, Briaux-Gerbaud S, Courvalin P (1983) Tn1525, a kanamycin R determinant flanked by two direct copies of IS15. Mol Gen Genet. 189:90–101
Labigne-Roussel A, Gerbaud G, Courvalin P (1981) Translocation of sequences encoding antibiotic resistance form the chromosome to a receptor plasmid in Salmonella ordonez. Mol Gen Genet 182:390–408
Labigne-Roussel A, Witchitz JL, Courvalin P (1982) Modular evolution of disseminated Tnc7-M plasmids encoding gentamicin resistance. Plasmid 8:215–231
Lederberg EM (1981) Plasmid reference center registry of transposon (Tn) allocations through July 1981. Gene 16:59–61
Lesage DD, Gerbaud GR, Chabbert YA (1975) Carte génétique et structure chez E. coli K12 d'un plasmide de résistance isolé chez Salmonella ordonez. Ann Microbiol (Paris) 126A:435–448
Maniatis T, Jeffrey A, Kleid DG (1975) Nucleotide sequence of the rightward operator of phage λ. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 72:1184–1188
Novick RP, Clowes RC, Cohen SN, Curtiss III R, Datta N, Falkow S (1976) Uniform nomenclature for bacterial plasmids: a proposal. Bacteriol Rev 40:168–189
Roussel A, Carlier C, Gerbaud G, Chabbert YA, Croissant O, Blangy D (1979) Reversible translocation of antibiotic resistance determinants in Salmonella ordonez. Mol Gen Genet 169:13–25
Roussel A, Chabbert YA (1978) Taxonomy and epidemiology of gram-negative bacterial plasmids studied by DNA-DNA filter hybridization in formamide. J Gen Microbiol 104:269–276
Sasaki I, Bertani G (1965) Growth abnormalities in Hfr derivatives of Escherichia coli strain. Can J Genet Microbiol 40:365–376
Shapiro JA (1969) Mutations caused by the insertion of genetic material into the galactose operon of Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol 40:93–105
Shinnick TM, Lund E, Smithies O, Blattner FR (1975) Hybridization of labeled RNA to DNA in agarose gels. Nucleic Acid Res 2:1911–1929
Smith HO, Birnstiel ML (1976) A simple method for DNA restriction site mapping. Nucleic Acid Res 3:2387–2398
Southern EM (1975) Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol 98:503–517
Sutcliffe JG (1978) pBR322 restriction map derived from the DNA sequence: accurate DNA size markers up to 4361 nucleotide pairs long. Nucleic Acid Res 5:2721–2728
Sutcliffe JG (1979) Complete nucleotide sequence of the Escherichia coli plasmid pBR322. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 45:77–90
Uhlin BE, Nordström K (1977) R plasmid gene dosage effects in Escherichia coli K12: copy mutants of the R plasmid Rldrd-19. Plasmid 1:1–7
Van Heuverswyn H, Fiers W (1980) Recognition sequence for the restriction endonuclease BglI from Bacillus globigii. Gene 9:195–203
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by W. Arber
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Labigne-Roussel, A., Courvalin, P. IS15, a new insertion sequence widely spread in R plasmids of gram-negative bacteria. Molec Gen Genet 189, 102–112 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00326061
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00326061