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81700.8902Mercury resistance transposons in Bacilli strains from different geographical regions. A total of 65 spore-forming mercury-resistant bacteria were isolated from natural environments worldwide in order to understand the acquisition of additional genes by and dissemination of mercury resistance transposons across related Bacilli genera by horizontal gene movement. PCR amplification using a single primer complementary to the inverted repeat sequence of TnMERI1-like transposons showed that 12 of 65 isolates had a transposon-like structure. There were four types of amplified fragments: Tn5084, Tn5085, Tn(d)MER3 (a newly identified deleted transposon-like fragment) and Tn6294 (a newly identified transposon). Tn(d)MER3 is a 3.5-kb sequence that carries a merRETPA operon with no merB or transposase genes. It is related to the mer operon of Bacillus licheniformis strain FA6-12 from Russia. DNA homology analysis shows that Tn6294 is an 8.5-kb sequence that is possibly derived from Tn(d)MER3 by integration of a TnMERI1-type transposase and resolvase genes and in addition the merR2 and merB1 genes. Bacteria harboring Tn6294 exhibited broad-spectrum mercury resistance to organomercurial compounds, although Tn6294 had only merB1 and did not have the merB2 and merB3 sequences for organomercurial lyases found in Tn5084 of B. cereus strain RC607. Strains with Tn6294 encode mercuric reductase (MerA) of less than 600 amino acids in length with a single N-terminal mercury-binding domain, whereas MerA encoded by strains MB1 and RC607 has two tandem domains. Thus, Tn(d)MER3 and Tn6294 are shorter prototypes for TnMERI1-like transposons. Identification of Tn6294 in Bacillus sp. from Taiwan and in Paenibacillus sp. from Antarctica indicates the wide horizontal dissemination of TnMERI1-like transposons across bacterial species and geographical barriers.201626802071
81510.8816The sequence of the mer operon of pMER327/419 and transposon ends of pMER327/419, 330 and 05. Three different, independently isolated mercury-resistance-conferring plasmids, pMER327/419, pMER330 and pMER05, from cultures originating from the river Mersey (UK), contain identical regulatory merR genes and transposon ends. The mer determinant from pMER327/419 contains an additional potential ORF (ORF F) located between merP and merA when compared with the archetypal Tn501. Although these plasmids confer narrow-spectrum resistance (resistance to Hg2+, but not organomercurials) their merR genes encode a potential organomercurial-sensing protein. Transposition of the mer of pMER05 into plasmid RP4 was demonstrated and, as with Tn502 and Tn5053, insertion occurred at a specific region. The sequence of pMER05 is identical at the 'left' and 'right' termini and across merR to Tn5053, which was independently isolated from the chromosome of a Xanthomonas sp. bacteria from the Khaidarkan mercury mine in Kirgizia, former Soviet Union [Kholodii et al., J. Mol. Biol. 230 (1993a) 1103-1107]. The transpositional unit of pMER05 is, like that of Tn5053, bounded by DNA homologous to the imperfect 25-bp inverted repeats (IR) of the In2 integron, which brackets antibiotic-resistance cassettes in Tn21 subgroup transposons. At one end of the transposable element, and internal to the In2-like IR, is a 38-bp IR which closely resembles the IR that bounds Tn21.19948063107
49120.8803Class II broad-spectrum mercury resistance transposons in Gram-positive bacteria from natural environments. We have studied the mechanisms of the horizontal dissemination of a broad-spectrum mercury resistance determinant among Bacillus and related species. This mer determinant was first described in Bacillus cereus RC607 from Boston Harbor, USA, and was then found in various Bacillus and related species in Japan, Russia and England. We have shown that the mer determinant can either be located at the chromosome, or on a plasmid in the Bacillus species, and is carried by class II mercury resistance transposons: Tn5084 from B. cereus RC607 and B. cereus VKM684 (ATCC10702) and Tn5085 from Exiguobacterium sp. TC38-2b. Tn5085 is identical in nucleotide sequence to TnMERI1, the only other known mer transposon from Bacillus species, but it does not contain an intron like TnMERI1. Tn5085 is functionally active in Escherichia coli. Tn5083, which we have isolated from B. megaterium MK64-1, contains an RC607-like mer determinant, that has lost some mercury resistance genes and possesses a merA gene which is a novel sequence variant that has not been previously described. Tn5083 and Tn5084 are recombinants, and are comprised of fragments from several transposons including Tn5085, and a relative of a putative transposon from B. firmus (which contains similar genes to the cadmium resistance operon of Staphylococcus aureus), as well as others. The sequence data showed evidence for recombination both between transposition genes and between mer determinants.200111446519
81930.8736Trimethoprim resistance transposon Tn4003 from Staphylococcus aureus encodes genes for a dihydrofolate reductase and thymidylate synthetase flanked by three copies of IS257. Trimethoprim resistance mediated by the Staphylococcus aureus multi-resistance plasmid pSK1 is encoded by a structure with characteristics of a composite transposon which we have designated Tn4003. Nucleotide sequence analysis of Tn4003 revealed it to be 4717 bp in length and to contain three copies of the insertion element IS257 (789-790 bp), the outside two of which are flanked by directly repeated 8-bp target sequences. IS257 has imperfect terminal inverted repeats of 27-28 bp and encodes for a putative transposase with two potential alpha-helix-turn-alpha-helix DNA recognition motifs. IS257 shares sequence similarities with members of the IS15 family of insertion sequences from Gram-negative bacteria and with ISS1 from Streptococcus lactis. The central region of the transposon contains the dfrA gene that specifies the S1 dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) responsible for trimethoprim resistance. The S1 enzyme shows sequence homology with type I and V trimethoprim-resistant DHFRs from Gram-negative bacteria and with chromosomally encoded DHFRs from Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. 5' to dfrA is a thymidylate synthetase gene, designated thyE.19892548057
80340.8734Nucleotide sequences and genetic analysis of hydrogen oxidation (hox) genes in Azotobacter vinelandii. Azotobacter vinelandii contains a heterodimeric, membrane-bound [NiFe]hydrogenase capable of catalyzing the reversible oxidation of H2. The beta and alpha subunits of the enzyme are encoded by the structural genes hoxK and hoxG, respectively, which appear to form part of an operon that contains at least one further potential gene (open reading frame 3 [ORF3]). In this study, determination of the nucleotide sequence of a region of 2,344 bp downstream of ORF3 revealed four additional closely spaced or overlapping ORFs. These ORFs, ORF4 through ORF7, potentially encode polypeptides with predicted masses of 22.8, 11.4, 16.3, and 31 kDa, respectively. Mutagenesis of the chromosome of A. vinelandii in the area sequenced was carried out by introduction of antibiotic resistance gene cassettes. Disruption of hoxK and hoxG by a kanamycin resistance gene abolished whole-cell hydrogenase activity coupled to O2 and led to loss of the hydrogenase alpha subunit. Insertional mutagenesis of ORF3 through ORF7 with a promoterless lacZ-Kmr cassette established that the region is transcriptionally active and involved in H2 oxidation. We propose to call ORF3 through ORF7 hoxZ, hoxM, hoxL, hoxO, and hoxQ, respectively. The predicted hox gene products resemble those encoded by genes from hydrogenase-related operons in other bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Alcaligenes eutrophus.19921624446
40350.8728Nucleotide sequence and expression of the mercurial-resistance operon from Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pI258. The mercurial-resistance determinant from Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pI258 is located on a 6.4-kilobase-pair Bgl II fragment. The determinant was cloned into both Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. Mercury resistance was found only in B. subtilis. The 6404-base-pair DNA sequence of the Bgl II fragment was determined. The mer DNA sequence includes seven open reading frames, two of which have been identified by homology with the merA (mercuric reductase) and merB (organomercurial lyase) genes from the mercurial-resistance determinants of Gram-negative bacteria. Whereas 40% of the amino acid residues overall were identical between the pI258 merA polypeptide product and mercuric reductases from Gram-negative bacteria, the percentage identity in the active-site positions and those thought to be involved in NADPH and FAD contacts was above 90%. The 216 amino acid organomercurial lyase sequence was 39% identical with that from a Serratia plasmid, with higher conservation in the middle of the sequences and lower homologies at the amino and carboxyl termini. The remaining five open reading frames in the pI258 mer sequence have no significant homologies with the genes from previously sequenced Gram-negative mer operons.19873037534
82660.8718Sequence identity with type VIII and association with IS176 of type IIIc dihydrofolate reductase from Shigella sonnei. An uncommon dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), type IIIc, was coded for by Shigella sonnei that harbors plasmid pBH700 and that was isolated in North Carolina. The trimethoprim resistance gene carried on pBH700 was subcloned and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding type IIIc DHFR was identical to the gene encoding type VIII DHFR. The type IIIc amino acid sequence was approximately 50% similar to those of DHFRs commonly found in enteric bacteria. Furthermore, this gene was flanked by IS176 (IS26), an insertion sequence usually associated with those of aminoglycoside resistance genes. The gene for type IIIc DHFR was located by hybridization within a 1,993-bp PstI fragment in each of eight conjugative plasmids from geographically diverse strains of S. sonnei. Each plasmid also conferred resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, and sulfamethoxazole and belonged to incompatibility group M. Plasmids carrying this new trimethoprim resistance gene, which is uniquely associated with IS176, have disseminated throughout the United States.19957695291
82070.8717Nucleotide sequence analysis of a transposon (Tn5393) carrying streptomycin resistance genes in Erwinia amylovora and other gram-negative bacteria. A class II Tn3-type transposable element, designated Tn5393 and located on plasmid pEa34 from streptomycin-resistant strain CA11 of Erwinia amylovora, was identified by its ability to move from pEa34 to different sites in plasmids pGEM3Zf(+) and pUCD800. Nucleotide sequence analysis reveals that Tn5393 consists of 6,705 bp with 81-bp terminal inverted repeats and generates 5-bp duplications of the target DNA following insertion. Tn5393 contains open reading frames that encode a putative transposase (tnpA) and resolvase (tnpR) of 961 and 181 amino acids, respectively. The two open reading frames are separated by a putative recombination site (res) consisting of 194 bp. Two streptomycin resistance genes, strA and strB, were identified on the basis of their DNA sequence homology to streptomycin resistance genes in plasmid RSF1010. StrA is separated from tnpR by a 1.2-kb insertion element designated IS1133. The tnpA-res-tnpR region of Tn5393 was detected in Pseudomonas syringae pv. papulans Psp36 and in many other gram-negative bacteria harboring strA and strB. Except for some strains of Erwinia herbicola, these other gram-negative bacteria lacked insertion sequence IS1133. The prevalence of strA and strB could be accounted for by transposition of Tn5393 to conjugative plasmids that are then disseminated widely among gram-negative bacteria.19938380801
49080.8713Mercuric resistance genes in gram-positive oral bacteria. Mercury-resistant bacteria isolated from the oral cavities of children carried one of two types of merA gene that appear to have evolved from a common ancestor. Streptococcus oralis, Streptococcus mitis and a few other species had merA genes that were very similar to merA of Bacillus cereus strain RC607. Unlike the B. cereus RC607 merA gene, however, the streptococcal merA genes were not carried on Tn5084-like transposons. Instead, comparisons with microbial genomic sequences suggest the merA gene is located on a novel type II transposon. Coagulase-negative staphylococci and Streptococcus parasanguis had identical merA genes that represent a new merA variant.200415251199
81890.8699Characterization of a staphylococcal plasmid related to pUB110 and carrying two novel genes, vatC and vgbB, encoding resistance to streptogramins A and B and similar antibiotics. We isolated and sequenced a plasmid, named pIP1714 (4,978 bp), which specifies resistance to streptogramins A and B and the mixture of these compounds. pIP1714 was isolated from a Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. cohnii strain found in the environment of a hospital where pristinamycin was extensively used. Resistance to both compounds and related antibiotics is encoded by two novel, probably cotranscribed genes, (i) vatC, encoding a 212-amino-acid (aa) acetyltransferase that inactivates streptogramin A and that exhibits 58.2 to 69.8% aa identity with the Vat, VatB, and SatA proteins, and (ii) vgbB, encoding a 295-aa lactonase that inactivates streptogramin B and that shows 67% aa identity with the Vgb lactonase. pIP1714 includes a 2,985-bp fragment also found in two rolling-circle replication and mobilizable plasmids, pUB110 and pBC16, from gram-positive bacteria. In all three plasmids, the common fragment was delimited by two direct repeats of four nucleotides (GGGC) and included (i) putative genes closely related to repB, which encodes a replication protein, and to pre(mob), which encodes a protein required for conjugative mobilization and site-specific recombination, and (ii) sequences very similar to the double- and single-strand origins (dso, ssoU) and the recombination site, RSA. The antibiotic resistance genes repB and pre(mob) carried by each of these plasmids were found in the same transcriptional orientation.19989661023
503100.8698Interaction of the chromosomal Tn 551 with two thermosensitive derivatives, pS1 and p delta D, of the plasmid pI9789 in Staphylococcus aureus. The plasmid pI9789::Tn552 carries genes conferring resistance to penicillins and to cadmium, mercury and arsenate ions. The presence of Tn551 at one location in the chromosome of Staphylococcus aureus enhances the frequency of suppression of thermosensitivity of replication of the plasmids pS1 and p delta D which are derivatives of pI9789::Tn552. Bacteriophage propagated on the bacteria in which thermosensitivity of replication had been suppressed was used to transduce cadmium resistance to S. aureus PS80N. The cadmium-resistant transductants obtained carried plasmid pS1 or p delta D with a copy of Tn551 inserted into a specific site on pS1 but into several different sites on p delta D. The possible mechanisms of the suppression are discussed.19957758929
407110.8696Molecular cloning and characterization of two lincomycin-resistance genes, lmrA and lmrB, from Streptomyces lincolnensis 78-11. Two different lincomycin-resistance determinants (lmrA and lmrB) from Streptomyces lincolnensis 78-11 were cloned in Streptomyces lividans 66 TK23. The gene lmrA was localized on a 2.16 kb fragment, the determined nucleotide sequence of which encoded a single open reading frame 1446 bp long. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence suggested the presence of 12 membrane-spanning domains and showed significant similarities to the methylenomycin-resistance protein (Mmr) from Streptomyces coelicolor, the QacA protein from Staphylococcus aureus, and several tetracycline-resistance proteins from both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as to some sugar-transport proteins from Escherichia coli. The lmrB gene was actively expressed from a 2.7 kb fragment. An open reading frame of 837 bp could be localized which encoded a protein that was significantly similar to 23S rRNA adenine(2058)-N-methyltransferases conferring macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin resistance. LmrB also had putative rRNA methyltransferase activity since lincomycin resistance of ribosomes was induced in lmrB-containing strains. Surprisingly, both enzymes, LmrA and LmrB, had a substrate specificity restricted to lincomycin and did not cause resistance to other lincosamides such as celesticetin and clindamycin, or to macrolides.19921328813
821120.8693DNA probes for studying streptothricin resistance evolution in enteric bacteria. Probes for the detection of streptothricin resistance genes have been derived from recombinant plasmids. These include the streptothricin resistance gene probe sat 1/2 derived from Tn 1826 and specific for both the sat-1 determinant of Tn 1825 and the sat-2 determinant of Tn 1826, and the probe sat D derived from and specific for the sat-1 determinant of transposon Tn 1825. A third streptothricin resistance gene probe, sat 3, represents the streptothricin resistance determinant sat-3 of the IncQ R plasmid pIE639. Hybridization studies did not reveal any sequence homology between sat-3 and the transposon-localized sat-1 and sat-2 determinants. Moreover, non of the different sat-determinants isolated from plasmids of gram negative bacteria hybridized with the analogous resistance determinant of Streptomyces noursei, which had been cloned and named nat by Krügel et al. (Gene, 1988, 62, 209-214). The sat 1/2 probe in combination with the sat D probe proved to be suitable for the identification and the differentiation of sat-1 and sat-2 determinants in different genetic environments. Streptothricin resistance genes related to those present on transposons Tn 1825 and Tn 1826 have been detected by hybridization with the probe sat 1/2 on plasmids isolated a long time ago before the application of streptothricins. The sat-3 determinant appears to be exclusively associated with the IncQ plasmid pIE639.19902166786
816130.8682High-Level Nickel Resistance in Alcaligenes xylosoxydans 31A and Alcaligenes eutrophus KTO2. Two new nickel-resistant strains of Alcaligenes species were selected from a large number (about 400) of strains isolated from ecosystems polluted by heavy metals and were studied on the physiological and molecular level. Alcaligenes xylosoxydans 31A is a heterotrophic bacterium, and Alcaligenes eutrophus KTO2 is an autotrophic aerobic hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium. Both strains carry-among other plasmids-a megaplasmid determining resistance to 20 to 50 mM NiCl(2) and 20 mM CoCl(2) (when growing in defined Tris-buffered media). Megaplasmids pTOM8, pTOM9 from strain 31A, and pGOE2 from strain KTO2 confer nickel resistance to the same degree to transconjugants of all strains of A. eutrophus tested but were not transferred to Escherichia coli. However, DNA fragments carrying the nickel resistance genes, cloned into broad-hostrange vector pVDZ'2, confer resistance to A. eutrophus derivatives as well as E. coli. The DNA fragments of both bacteria, TBA8, TBA9, and GBA (14.5-kb BamHI fragments), appear to be identical. They share equal size, restriction maps, and strong DNA homology but are largely different from fragment HKI of nickel-cobalt resistance plasmid pMOL28 of A. eutrophus CH34.199116348590
5209140.8682Complete Nucleotide Sequence of pGA45, a 140,698-bp IncFIIY Plasmid Encoding bla IMI-3-Mediated Carbapenem Resistance, from River Sediment. Plasmid pGA45 was isolated from the sediments of Haihe River using Escherichia coli CV601 (gfp-tagged) as recipients and indigenous bacteria from sediment as donors. This plasmid confers reduced susceptibility to imipenem which belongs to carbapenem group. Plasmid pGA45 was fully sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencing system. The complete sequence of plasmid pGA45 was 140,698 bp in length with an average G + C content of 52.03%. Sequence analysis shows that pGA45 belongs to IncFIIY group and harbors a backbone region which shares high homology and gene synteny to several other IncF plasmids including pNDM1_EC14653, pYDC644, pNDM-Ec1GN574, pRJF866, pKOX_NDM1, and pP10164-NDM. In addition to the backbone region, plasmid pGA45 harbors two notable features including one bla IMI-3-containing region and one type VI secretion system region. The bla IMI-3-containing region is responsible for bacteria carbapenem resistance and the type VI secretion system region is probably involved in bacteria virulence, respectively. Plasmid pGA45 represents the first complete nucleotide sequence of the bla IMI-harboring plasmid from environment sample and the sequencing of this plasmid provided insight into the architecture used for the dissemination of bla IMI carbapenemase genes.201626941718
366150.8680Genes encoding mercuric reductases from selected gram-negative aquatic bacteria have a low degree of homology with merA of transposon Tn501. An investigation of the Hg2+ resistance mechanism of four freshwater and four coastal marine bacteria that did not hybridize with a mer operonic probe was conducted (T. Barkay, C. Liebert, and M. Gillman, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55:1196-1202, 1989). Hybridization with a merA probe, the gene encoding the mercuric reductase polypeptide, at a stringency of hybridization permitting hybrid formation between evolutionarily distant merA genes (as exists between gram-positive and -negative bacteria), detected merA sequences in the genomes of all tested strains. Inducible Hg2+ volatilization was demonstrated for all eight organisms, and NADPH-dependent mercuric reductase activities were detected in crude cell extracts of six of the strains. Because these strains represented random selections of bacteria from three aquatic environments, it is concluded that merA encodes a common molecular mechanism for Hg2+ resistance and volatilization in aerobic heterotrophic aquatic communities.19902166470
3022160.8679Sequencing and characterization of pBM400 from Bacillus megaterium QM B1551. Bacillus megaterium QM B1551 plasmid pBM400, one of seven indigenous plasmids, has been labeled with a selectable marker, isolated, completely sequenced, and partially characterized. A sequence of 53,903 bp was generated, revealing a total of 50 predicted open reading frames (ORFs); 33 were carried on one strand and 17 were carried on the other. These ORFs comprised 57% of the pBM400 sequence. Besides the replicon region and a complete rRNA operon that have previously been described, several interesting genes were found, including genes for predicted proteins for cell division (FtsZ and FtsK), DNA-RNA interaction (FtsK, Int/Rec, and reverse transcriptase), germination (CwlJ), styrene degradation (StyA), and heavy metal resistance (Cu-Cd export and ATPase). Three of the ORF products had high similarities to proteins from the Bacillus anthracis virulence plasmid pXO1. An insertion element with similarity to the IS256 family and several hypothetical proteins similar to those from the chromosomes of other Bacillus and Lactococcus species were present. This study provides a basis for isolation and sequencing of other high-molecular-weight plasmids from QM B1551 and for understanding the role of megaplasmids in gram-positive bacteria. The genes carried by pBM400 suggest a possible role of this plasmid in the survival of B. megaterium in hostile environments with heavy metals or styrene and also suggest that there has been an exchange of genes within the gram-positive bacteria, including pathogens.200314602653
3016170.8678Complete nucleotide sequence of the conjugative tetracycline resistance plasmid pFBAOT6, a member of a group of IncU plasmids with global ubiquity. This study presents the first complete sequence of an IncU plasmid, pFBAOT6. This plasmid was originally isolated from a strain of Aeromonas caviae from hospital effluent (Westmorland General Hospital, Kendal, United Kingdom) in September 1997 (G. Rhodes, G. Huys, J. Swings, P. McGann, M. Hiney, P. Smith, and R. W. Pickup, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:3883-3890, 2000) and belongs to a group of related plasmids with global ubiquity. pFBAOT6 is 84,748 bp long and has 94 predicted coding sequences, only 12 of which do not have a possible function that has been attributed. Putative replication, maintenance, and transfer functions have been identified and are located in a region in the first 31 kb of the plasmid. The replication region is poorly understood but exhibits some identity at the protein level with replication proteins from the gram-positive bacteria Bacillus and Clostridium. The mating pair formation system is a virB homologue, type IV secretory pathway that is similar in its structural organization to the mating pair formation systems of the related broad-host-range (BHR) environmental plasmids pIPO2, pXF51, and pSB102 from plant-associated bacteria. Partitioning and maintenance genes are homologues of genes in IncP plasmids. The DNA transfer genes and the putative oriT site also exhibit high levels of similarity with those of plasmids pIPO2, pXF51, and pSB102. The genetic load region encompasses 54 kb, comprises the resistance genes, and includes a class I integron, an IS630 relative, and other transposable elements in a 43-kb region that may be a novel Tn1721-flanked composite transposon. This region also contains 24 genes that exhibit the highest levels of identity to chromosomal genes of several plant-associated bacteria. The features of the backbone of pFBAOT6 that are shared with this newly defined group of environmental BHR plasmids suggest that pFBAOT6 may be a relative of this group, but a relative that was isolated from a clinical bacterial environment rather than a plant-associated bacterial environment.200415574953
3021180.8676Sequencing and comparative analysis of IncP-1α antibiotic resistance plasmids reveal a highly conserved backbone and differences within accessory regions. Although IncP-1 plasmids are important for horizontal gene transfer among bacteria, in particular antibiotic resistance spread, so far only three plasmids from the subgroup IncP-1α have been completely sequenced. In this study we doubled this number. The three IncP-1α plasmids pB5, pB11 and pSP21 were isolated from bacteria of two different sewage treatment plants and sequenced by a combination of next-generation and capillary sequencing technologies. A comparative analysis including the previously analysed IncP-1α plasmids RK2, pTB11 and pBS228 revealed a highly conserved plasmid backbone (at least 99.9% DNA sequence identity) comprising 54 core genes. The accessory elements of the plasmid pB5 constitute a class 1 integron interrupting the parC gene and an IS6100 copy inserted into the integron. In addition, the tetracycline resistance genes tetAR and the ISTB11-like element are located between the klc operon and the trfA-ssb operon. Plasmid pB11 is loaded with a Tn5053-like mercury resistance transposon between the parCBA and parDE operons and contains tetAR that are identical to those identified in plasmid pB5 and the insertion sequence ISSP21. Plasmid pSP21 harbours an ISPa7 element in a Tn402 transposon including a class 1 integron between the partitioning genes parCBA and parDE. The IS-element ISSP21 (99.89% DNA sequence identity to ISSP21 from pB11), inserted downstream of the tetR gene and a copy of ISTB11 (identical to ISTB11 on pTB11) inserted between the genes pncA and pinR. On all three plasmids the accessory genes are almost always located between the backbone modules confirming the importance of the backbone functions for plasmid maintenance. The striking backbone conservation among the six completely sequenced IncP-1α plasmids is in contrast to the much higher diversity within the IncP-1β subgroup.201121115076
492190.8674Identification of A Novel Arsenic Resistance Transposon Nested in A Mercury Resistance Transposon of Bacillus sp. MB24. A novel TnMERI1-like transposon designated as TnMARS1 was identified from mercury resistant Bacilli isolated from Minamata Bay sediment. Two adjacent ars operon-like gene clusters, ars1 and ars2, flanked by a pair of 78-bp inverted repeat sequences, which resulted in a 13.8-kbp transposon-like fragment, were found to be sandwiched between two transposable genes of the TnMERI1-like transposon of a mercury resistant bacterium, Bacillus sp. MB24. The presence of a single transcription start site in each cluster determined by 5'-RACE suggested that both are operons. Quantitative real time RT-PCR showed that the transcription of the arsR genes contained in each operon was induced by arsenite, while arsR2 responded to arsenite more sensitively and strikingly than arsR1 did. Further, arsenic resistance complementary experiments showed that the ars2 operon conferred arsenate and arsenite resistance to an arsB-knocked out Bacillus host, while the ars1 operon only raised arsenite resistance slightly. This transposon nested in TnMARS1 was designated as TnARS1. Multi-gene cluster blast against bacteria and Bacilli whole genome sequence databases suggested that TnMARS1 is the first case of a TnMERI1-like transposon combined with an arsenic resistance transposon. The findings of this study suggested that TnMERI1-like transposons could recruit other mobile elements into its genetic structure, and subsequently cause horizontal dissemination of both mercury and arsenic resistances among Bacilli in Minamata Bay.201931744069