Identification, DNA sequence, and distribution of IS981, a new, high-copy-number insertion sequence in lactococci

An insertion in the lactococcal plasmid pGBK17, which inactivated the gene(s) encoding resistance to the prolate-headed phage c2, was cloned, sequenced, and identified as a new lactococcal insertion sequence (IS). IS981 was 1,222 bp in size and contained two open reading frames, one large enough to encode a transposase. IS981 ended in imperfect inverted repeats of 26 of 40 bp and generated a 5-bp direct repeat of target DNA at the site of insertion. IS981 was present on the chromosome of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis LM0230 from where it transposed to pGBK17 during transformation. Twenty-three strains of lactococci examined for the presence of IS981 by Southern hybridization showed 4 to 26 copies per genome, with L. lactis subsp. cremoris strains containing the highest number of copies. Comparison of the DNA sequence and the amino acid sequence of the long open reading frame to other known sequences showed that IS981 is related to a family of IS elements that includes IS2, IS3, IS51, IS150, IS600, IS629, IS861, IS904, and ISL1.