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. 1988 Nov;120(3):645–650. doi: 10.1093/genetics/120.3.645

Transposon Tn5 Target Specificity: Preference for Insertion at G/C Pairs

J K Lodge 1, K Weston-Hafer 1, D E Berg 1
PMCID: PMC1203542  PMID: 2852135

Abstract

The procaryotic transposon Tn5 inserts into many different sites within a single gene, but some sites (hotspots) are targeted repeatedly. Hotspots are not closely related in sequence, but most have G/C pairs at the ends of the nine base pairs duplicated by Tn5 insertion. In pBR322, the major hotspot coincides with the ``-10 region'' of the tet promoter. We mutated the G/C pairs at this hotspot and assayed for insertion into hotspot I, resistance to tetracycline, and plasmid supercoiling. We found that changing the G/C pairs to A/T pairs reduced the frequency of insertion into the hotspot by at least fivefold. The reduction in hotspot use caused by these G/C to A/T changes was not attributable to changes in plasmid supercoiling or tet promoter strength.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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