Construction of S. meliloti 1021 otsA (a), treY (b), and treS (c) mutants. The wild-type version of the amplified region obtained by PCR is represented, and the mutated version is shown below. E, EcoRI; M, MluI; EV, EcoRV; S, SmaI; H, HindIII; Xh, XhoI; KmR, kanamycin resistance cassette; SmR/SpcR, streptomycin/spectinomycin resistance cassette.