Distribution of the insertion sequence IS1 in gram-negative bacteria.

Translocation of DNA segments is a recombinational event seen in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic chromosomes, and it is thought to be involved in controlling gene expression and in the evolution of chromosomes. In bacteria, insertion (IS) and transposable (Tn) elements not only translocate their own DNA, but also promote the rearrangement of both bacterial chromosomes and the plasmic genomes carrying them. The insertion element IS1 is one such element which is 768 base pairs long. IS1 is involved in the generation of deletion mutations and in the fusion of two different plasmid genomes. It can also promote the translocation of DNA segments flanked by two copies of IS1 to give rise to transposable elements responsible for antibiotic resistance and enterotoxin production. We report here the distribution of the IS1 sequence in various bacterial DNAs, particularly in the family Enterobacteriaceae. Comparison of the results with the phylogenetic relationship of these bacteria suggests that IS1 was transferred from one bacterium to another after their divergence and in some bacteria the copy number of IS1 increased by translocation. The increase in the number of copies of IS1 in bacteria may increase the probability of the genetic rearrangement responsible for the generation of resistance and enterotoxin plasmids, the existence of which is a serious problem in medical microbiology.