Transfer of the drug-resistance transposon Tn5 to Rhizobium

It is reported here that Tn5, a transposon coding for kanamycin resistance2, can insert into the chromosome of Rhizobium leguminosarum, the bacterium responsible for nodulation and nitrogen fixation in Pisum, Vicia, Lathyrus and Lens.

Abstract

TRANSPOSONS are discrete sequences of DNA that are incapable of self-replication and can insert into DNA replicons, such as chromosomes or plasmids, in the absence of the recA gene function1. Insertion can be random and where it occurs into the continuity of a gene leads to non-leaky polar mutations1. Some transposons carry drug resistance genes and thus insertions can be mapped as drug-resistance markers1. We report here that Tn5, a transposon coding for kanamycin resistance2, can insert into the chromosome of Rhizobium leguminosarum, the bacterium responsible for nodulation and nitrogen fixation in Pisum, Vicia, Lathyrus and Lens.