Tn7 Transposition: Recognition of the attTn7 Target Sequence

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 86; no. 11; pp. 3958 - 3962
• Main Authors: Waddell, Candace S., Craig, Nancy L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01.06.1989; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Base Sequence; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Cell extracts; DNA; DNA binding proteins; DNA Transposable Elements; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gels; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Genetic transposition; Genic rearrangement. Recombination. Transposable element; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleotide sequences; Nucleotides; Plasmids; Transposons; Radiolabelling; Gel electrophoresis; Escherichia coli; Molecular interaction; Transposable element; Site specificity; Transposition; Enhancer sequence; DNA; Bacteria; Localization; Escherichieae; Enterobacteriaceae
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.86.11.3958

The bacterial transposon Tn7 encodes two distinct but overlapping transposition pathways. tnsABC + tnsD promote transposition to a specific site, attTn7, while tnsABC + tnsE promote transposition to many other sites unrelated to attTn7. We have identified a tnsD-dependent DNA binding activity that specifically recognizes attTn7. We have localized the recognition sequences for this activity to a 28-base-pair region and have shown that this same region can provide specific properties of an attTn7 target in vivo. Interestingly, these sequences are positioned more than 25 base pairs from the specific point of Tn7 insertion.