FIG. 2.

Comparison of sequenced STAR elements. Presented is an alignment of STAR sequences, showing the core element sequence (capital letters) and a short flanking sequence (lowercase letters) for each sequence, with the exception of the hprK region of strain 12601, which contains no detectable STAR element. The numbering refers to star01 (601055) and corresponds to bases 345 to 838 of the entire sequenced region included in the database entry. The beginning (start) and end of the element are indicated. Five (A to E) 14-bp signature sequence direct repeats are found in star01, and subsets are found in the other sequences (boldface underlining). A possible 8-bp recombination site that could account for the deletion of the “beginning” of the element in star08 and star09 is indicated for the strains in which it is present (lightface underlining).