Characterization of the terminal sequences flanking the transposon that carries the Escherichia coli enterotoxin STII gene.

The Escherichia coli enterotoxin STII gene is flanked by two repeat sequences, approx. 600 bp each and 8 kb apart. This 9-kb DNA fragment has been shown to transpose as a unit and is thus considered a transposon. It is presently designated as Tn4521. In this study, the two terminal sequences of Tn4521 cloned in pPS1 were localized, isolated, and characterized. The two terminal sequences were found to be composed of IS2 sequences and were in an inverted repeat orientation. However, neither repeat contained a complete IS2. The LTR contained bp 1-722, whereas the RTR contained bp 17-536 and 969-1327, all three of the IS2 sequence.