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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2001, p. 6699-6706, Vol. 183, No. 22
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.22.6699-6706.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Integron Integrases Possess a Unique Additional Domain Necessary for Activity

Nancy Messier and Paul H. Roy*

Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université Laval, and Département de Biochimie et de Microbiologie, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

Received 19 July 2001/Accepted 31 August 2001

Integrons are genetic elements capable of integrating genes by a site-specific recombination system catalyzed by an integrase. Integron integrases are members of the tyrosine recombinase family and possess the four invariant residues (RHRY) and conserved motifs (boxes I and II and patches I, II, and III). An alignment of integron integrases compared to other tyrosine recombinases shows an additional group of residues around the patch III motif. We have analyzed the DNA binding and recombination properties of class I integron integrase (IntI1) variants carrying mutations at residues that are well conserved among all tyrosine recombinases and at some residues from the additional motif that are conserved among the integron integrases. The well-conserved residues studied were H277 from the conserved tetrad RHRY (about 90% conserved), E121 found in the patch I motif (about 80% conserved in prokaryotic recombinases), K171 from the patch II motif (near 100% conserved), W229 and F233 from the patch III motif, and G302 of box II (about 80% conserved in prokaryotic recombinases). Additional IntI1 mutated residues were K219 and a deletion of the sequence ALER215. We observed that E121, K171, and G302 play a role in the recombination activity but can be mutated without disturbing binding to DNA. W229, F233, and the conserved histidine (H277) may be implicated in protein folding or DNA binding. Some of the extra residues of IntI1 seem to play a role in DNA binding (K219) while others are implicated in the recombination activity (ALER215 deletion).

* Corresponding author. Mailing adress: Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie, CHUL, Local RC-709, 2705 Boul. Laurier, Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada G1V 4G2. Phone: (418) 654-2705. Fax: (418) 654-2715. E-mail: Paul.H.Roy{at}crchul.ulaval.ca.

Journal of Bacteriology, November 2001, p. 6699-6706, Vol. 183, No. 22
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.22.6699-6706.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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