Nucleotide sequence of an insertion element, IS1

Abstract

PSM2, PSM1, and PSM15 are small plasmids derived from R100 by spontaneous deletions at either end of the insertion sequence IS1. These plasmids were used to identify regions neighboring IS1 as well as the IS1 DNA itself, by cleavage with EcoR1, HindIII, Hae III, Hpa II, Hha I, Hinf, and AIu I. The nucleotide sequencing results demonstrate that IS1 contains 768 bases. About 30 bases at the ends of IS1 were found to be repeated in an inverted order. The deletions occurring at the ends of IS1 were found to be due to illegitimate recombination. The hypothesis that RNA polymerase could play an important role in such recombination phenomena is discussed based on the nucleotide sequences surrounding the recombinational hot spots.