The resolvase protein from the transposon Tn21.

The tac promoter was inserted into Tn21 upstream of the tnpR gene and the resultant plasmid was used to generate substantial amounts of resolvase. This protein was purified to homogeneity. The protein was characterized by amino acid sequence studies (which showed that an open-reading frame previously identified by DNA sequencing had been correctly assigned to the tnpR gene) and by molecular weight measurements (which demonstrated that the only active for of the protein in solution was dimeric). Pure Tn21 resolvase catalysed site-specific recombinations between directly repeated res sites from Tn21 or Tn1721 but not from Tn3 nor on inverted res sites from Tn21.