Summary
Genes determining the high affinity iron transport system mediated by the siderophore aerobactin are flanked in the enterobacterial plasmid pColV-K30 by inverted repeats of IS1 sequences, suggesting that the aerobactin genes are part of a transposon. To study this possibility, the entire region between the two IS1 sequences was cloned as an 18 kb HindIII-BamHI restriction fragment in pUC8 giving plasmid pMO1. A number of derivatives of pMO1, in which aerobactin genes were tagged with a kanamycin resistance gene, were prepared in order to assess the ability of both IS1s to promote the formation of cointegrates with pCJ105, an F derivative devoid of insertion sequences. Mating-out assays indicated that both flanking IS1s were active in cointegrate formation at detectable frequencies. In some cases, the cointegrates could be resolved, the final result being a transposition-like event for the entire aerobactin system.
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de Lorenzo, V., Herrero, M. & Neilands, J.B. IS1-mediated mobility of the aerobactin system of pColV-K30 in Escherichia coli . Mol Gen Genet 213, 487–490 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339620
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339620