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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2001, p. 1124-1132, Vol. 183, No. 4
Division of Geographic Medicine/Infectious
Diseases, New England Medical Center and Tufts University School
of Medicine,1 and Howard Hughes
Medical Institute,2 Boston, Massachusetts 02111, and Section on DNA Replication, Repair and Mutagenesis,
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 208923
Received 8 September 2000/Accepted 17 November 2000
The SXT element, a conjugative, self-transmissible, integrating
element (a constin) originally derived from a Vibrio
cholerae O139 isolate from India, and IncJ element R391,
originally derived from a South African Providencia
rettgeri isolate, were found to be genetically and functionally
related. Both of these constins integrate site specifically into
the Escherichia coli chromosome at an identical attachment
site within the 5' end of prfC. They encode nearly
identical integrases, which are required for chromosomal integration,
excision, and extrachromosomal circularization of these elements, and
they have similar tra genes. Therefore, these closely
related constins have virtually identical mechanisms for chromosomal
integration and dissemination. The presence of either element in a
recipient cell did not significantly reduce its ability to acquire the
other element, indicating that R391 and SXT do not encode surface
exclusion determinants. In cells harboring both elements, SXT and R391
were integrated in tandem fashion on the chromosome, and homologous
recombination appeared to play little or no role in the formation
of these arrays. Interference between R391 and SXT was detected by
measuring the frequency of loss of an unselected resident element upon
introduction of a second selected element. In these assays, R391 was
found to have a stronger effect on SXT stability than vice versa. The
level of expression and/or activity of the donor and recipient
integrases may play a role in the interference between these two
related constins.
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.4.1124-1132.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Formation of Chromosomal Tandem Arrays of the SXT Element and
R391, Two Conjugative Chromosomally Integrating Elements That
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Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Geographic Medicine/Infectious Diseases, New England Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, NEMC 041, 750 Washington St.,
Boston, MA 02111. Phone: (617) 636-7618. Fax: (617) 636 5292. E-mail:
mwaldor{at}lifespan.org.
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