Escherichia coli K-12 auxotrophs induced by insertion of the transposable element Tn5

Abstract

The sites of insertion of the transposable kanamycin-neomycin resistance-determining element, Tn5, in the E. coli K-12 chromosome were assessed in a collection of over 300 auxotrophs. Although mutations in at least 45 different cistrons were obtained, the distribution of insertion sites was not completely random: proA or proB; cysG; and cysH, cysD or cysC mutants were found in excess.