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Journal of Bacteriology, May 2000, p. 2574-2581, Vol. 182, No. 9
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
High Spontaneous Mutation Rate in the
Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus Is
Mediated by Transposable Elements
Erika
Martusewitsch,1
Christoph W.
Sensen,2 and
Christa
Schleper1,*
Institute of Microbiology and Genetics,
Darmstadt University of Technology, 64287 Darmstadt,
Germany,1 and Institute for Marine
Biosciences, NRC, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 3ZI2
Received 29 October 1999/Accepted 29 January 2000
We have isolated uracil-auxotrophic mutants of the
hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus in order
to explore the genomic stability and mutational frequencies of this
organism and to identify complementable recipients for a selectable
genetic transformation system. Positive selection of spontaneous
mutants resistant to 5-fluoroorotate yielded uracil auxotrophs with
frequencies of between 10
4 and 10
5 per
sensitive, viable cell. Four different, nonhomologous insertion sequences (ISs) were identified at different positions within the
chromosomal pyrEF locus of these mutants. They ranged in
size from 1,058 to 1,439 bp and possessed properties typical of known transposable elements, i.e., terminal inverted repeats, flanking duplicated target sequences, and putative transposase genes encoding motifs that are indicative of the IS4-IS5 IS
element families. Between 12 and 25 copies of each IS element were
found in chromosomal DNAs by Southern analyses. While characteristic
fingerprint patterns created by IS element-specific probes were
observed with genomic DNA of different S. solfataricus
strains, no homologous sequences were identified in DNA of other
well-characterized strains of the order Sulfolobales.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of
Microbiology and Genetics, Darmstadt University of Technology,
Schnittspahnstr. 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany. Phone: 49-6151-16 3757. Fax: 49-6151-16 2956. E-mail:
schleper{at}bio.tu-darmstadt.de.

NRC publication no.
42312.
Journal of Bacteriology, May 2000, p. 2574-2581, Vol. 182, No. 9
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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