Characterization of Tn3926, a new mercury-resistance transposon from Yersinia enterocolitica

Abstract

A new transposon coding for mercury resistance (HgR), Tn3926, has been found in a strain of Yersinia enterocolitica, YE138A14. The element has a size of 7.8 kb and transposes to conjugative plasmids belonging to different incompatibility groups. A restriction map has been established. DNA-DNA hybridization indicates that Tn3926 displays homology with both Tn501 and Tn21; the greatest homology is shown with the regions of these transposons that encode HgR. Weaker homology is observed between Tn3926 sequences and those regions of Tn501 and Tn21 that encode transposition functions. Complementation experiments indicate that the Tn3926 transposase mediates transposition of Tn21, albeit somewhat inefficiently, but not of Tn501, while the resolvase mediates resolution of transposition cointegrates formed via Tn21, Tn501, or Tn1721.