Tn5: A molecular window on transposition

DNA transposition is an underlying process involved in the remodeling of ge nomes in all types of organisms. We analyze the multiple steps in cut-and-p aste transposition using the bacterial transposon Tn5 as a model. This syst em is particularly illuminating because of the existence of structural, gen etic, and biochemical information regarding the two participating specific macromolecules: the transposase and the 19-bp sequences that define the end s of the transposon. However, most of the insights should be of general int erest because of similarities to other transposition-like systems such as H IV-1 DNA integration into the host genome. (C) 1999 Academic Press.