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Transposons

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Transposons, or "jumping genes," are small mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that range from 700 to 40,000 base pairs in length. They are found in all organisms and can move within the same chromosome or transfer to different chromosomes. In some cases, transposons can also jump between different host DNA molecules, such as plasmids or viruses, contributing to genetic variability.Barbara McClintock first discovered these mobile genetic elements in the 1940s while studying maize genetics, and she...

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Organisms are capable of detecting and fixing nucleotide mismatches that occur during DNA replication. This sophisticated process requires identifying the new strand and replacing the erroneous bases with correct nucleotides. Mismatch repair is coordinated by many proteins in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

Generation of Enterobacter sp. YSU Auxotrophs Using Transposon Mutagenesis

Generation of Enterobacter sp. YSU Auxotrophs Using Transposon Mutagenesis

Published on: October 31, 2014

Competition between transposable elements and mutator genes in bacteria.

Tamás Fehér¹, Balázs Bogos, Orsolya Méhi

¹Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center, Szeged, Hungary.

Molecular Biology and Evolution

|April 25, 2012

Summary

Insertion sequence (IS) elements boost mutation but offer little adaptive advantage. Mismatch repair mutator alleles, which are widespread, hinder the spread of IS elements, revealing an evolutionary conflict between mutation-promoting mechanisms.

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Area of Science:

Microbiology
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics

Background:

Genomic diversification is influenced by elevated mutation rates (mutators) and insertion sequence (IS) elements.
The interplay between mutators and IS elements in bacterial evolution remains largely unexplored.
Understanding the evolutionary drivers for IS element accumulation is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the interactions between IS elements and mutator genotypes.
To determine the evolutionary forces governing the spread of IS elements in bacterial genomes.
To assess the adaptive potential conferred by IS elements versus mutator alleles.

Main Methods:

Introduction of an active IS1 element into a reduced Escherichia coli genome lacking other mobile DNA.
Conducting evolutionary laboratory experiments to observe genome evolution.
Comparing the effects of IS elements and mismatch repair mutator alleles on adaptive evolution.

Main Results:

IS elements were found to increase mutational supply and generate variants with significant phenotypic effects.
The adaptive impact of IS elements was considerably smaller than that of mismatch repair mutator alleles.
Mutator alleles were observed to impede the spread of IS-carrying bacterial strains.

Conclusions:

Widespread mutator alleles may limit the early evolution of IS elements in new bacterial hosts.
An evolutionary conflict exists between different mutation-promoting mechanisms.
This study sheds light on the complex dynamics of genome evolution and mobile genetic elements.