ANALYSES OF TRAA, INT-TN, AND XIS-TN MUTATIONS IN THE CONJUGATIVE TRANSPOSON TN916 IN ENTEROCOCCUS-FAECALIS

The conjugative transposon Tn916 moves intercellularly via an excision /insertion mechanism that involves products of int-Tn and xis-Tn. Tn5- insertion mutations in these genes were found to be complemented in an Enterococcus faecalis host by specific coresident transposons harbori ng the corresponding wild-type allele. A determinant designated traA, partially overlapping and divergently transcribed from xis-Tn, is thou ght to encode a key positively acting regulatory protein needed for ex pression of conjugation functions. This locus was also shown to expres s a trans-acting product. (C) 1996 Academic Press.