Summary
Bacterial plasmids which contain a copy of TnA are refractory to the uptake of a second by transposition. However plasmids containing two such copies can be constructed by in vitro recombination techniques. Some plasmids containing two copies of TnA have been obtained by conventional transposition, but in all cases they arose by the virtually simultaneous insertion of both units into a replicon that carried no TnA. All stable plasmids containing two copies of TnA carried the transposons in opposite orientation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achtman, M., Willets, N., Clark, A.J.: Beginning a genetic analysis of conjugational transfer determined by the F factor in Escherichia coli by isolation and characterisation of transfer deficient mutants. J. Bact. 106, 529–538 (1971)
Bennett, P.M., Grinsted, J., Choi, C.L., Richmond, M.H.: Characterisation of Tn501, a transposon determining resistance to mercuric ions. Molec. gen. Genet. (in press), 1978
Bennett, P.M., Grinsted, J., Richmond, M.H.: Transposition of TnA does not generate deletions. Molec. gen. Genet. 154, 205–211 (1977)
Bennett, P.M., Richmond, M.H.: Translocation of a discrete piece of DNA carrying an amp gene between replicons in E. coli. J. Bact. 126, 1–6 (1976)
Cohen, S.N.: Transposable genetic elements and plasmid evolution. Nature (Lond.) 263, 731–738 (1976)
Cohen, S.N., Chang, A.C.Y., Hsu, L.: Nonchromosomal antibiotic resistance in bacteria: genetic transformation in Escherichia coli by R factor DNA. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 69, 2110–2114 (1972)
Cornelis, G., Bennett, P.M., Grinsted, J.: Properties of pGCl, a lac plasmid originating in Yersinia enterocolitica 842. J. Bact. 127, 1058–1062 (1976)
Datta, N., Hedges, R.W.: Trimethoprim resistance conferred by plasmids in Enterobacteriaceae. J. gen. Microbiol. 72, 349–356 (1972)
Demerec, M., Adelberg, E.A., Clark, A.J., Hartman, P.E.: A proposal for a uniform nomenclature in bacterial genetics. Genetics 54, 61–76 (1966)
Grinsted, J., Saunders, J.R., Ingram, L.C., Sykes, R.B., Richmond, M.H.: Properties of an R factor which originated in Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1822. J. Bact. 110, 529–537 (1972)
Grinsted, J., Bennett, P.M., Richmond, M.H.: A restriction enzyme map of the R-plasmid RPl. Plasmid (in press) (1977)
Hedges, R.W., Jacob, A.E.: Transposition of ampicillin resistance from RP4 to other replicons. Molec. gen. Genet. 132, 31–40 (1974)
Heffron, F., Rubens, C., Falkow, S.: Translocation of a plasmid DNA sequence which mediates ampicillin resistance: Molecular nature and specificity of insertion. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 72, 3623–3627 (1975)
Kopecko, D.J., Cohen, S.N.: Site-specific recA-independent recombination between bacterial plasmids: involvement of palindromes at the recombinational loci. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 72, 1373–1377 (1975)
Kretschmer, P.J., Chang, A.C.Y., Cohen, S.N. Indirect selection of bacterial plasmids lacking identifiable phenotypic properties. J. Bact. 124, 225–231 (1975)
Lai, C.J., Nathans, D.: Deletion mutants of simian virus 40 generated by enzymatic excision of DNA segments from the viral genome. J. molec. Biol. 89, 179–193 (1974)
Matthew, M., Harris, A.M., Marshall, M.J., Ross, G.W.: The use of analytic iso-electric focusing for detection and identification of β-lactamases. J. gen. Microbiol. 88, 169–178 (1975)
Moillo-Batt, A.M., Richmond, M.H.: The survival of RPl-1 in Escherichia coli and the influence of the rec and polA genes on the process. Genet. Res. 28, 15–26 (1976)
Novick, R.P., Clowes, R.C., Cohen, S.N., Curtiss III, R., Datta, N., Falkow, S.: Uniform nomenclature for bacterial plasmids: a proposal. Bact. Rev. 40, 168–189, (1976)
Olsen, R.H., Shipley, P.L.: RPl properties and fertility inhibition among P, N, W and X incompatibility group plasmids. J. Bact. 123, 28–35 (1975)
Robinson, M.K., Bennett, P.M., Richmond, M.H.: Inhibition of TnA transposition by TnA. J. Bact. 129, 407–414 (1977)
Rubens, C., Heffron, F., Falkow, S.: Transposition of a plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid sequence that mediates ampicillin resistance: Independence from host rec functions and orientation of insertion. J. Bact. 128, 425–434 (1976)
So, M., Gill, R., Falkow, S.F.: The generation of ColE1-Apr cloning vehicle which allows the detection of inserted DNA. Molec. gen. Genet. 142, 239–249 (1975)
Timmis, K.N., Cabello, F., Cohen, S.N.: Utilisation of two distinct modes of replication by a hybrid plasmid constructed in vitro from separate replicons. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 71, 4556–4560 (1974)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by W. Arber
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Robinson, M.K., Bennett, P.M., Grinsted, J. et al. The stable carriage of two TnA units on a single replicon. Molec. Gen. Genet. 160, 339–346 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00332978
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00332978