Antibiotic resistance gene cassettes derived from the omega interposon for use in E. coli and Streptomyces

Three antibiotic resistance gene cassettes, derived from the omega interposon (Prentki and Krisch (1984) Gene 29, 303-313) were constructed. These cassettes carry different antibiotic resistance genes, conferring resistance to geneticin, hygromycin or viomycin, flanked by short inverted repeats containing transcription and translation termination signals and synthetic polylinkers. These cassettes were designated omega aac, omega hyg and omega vph. Resistance phenotypes conferred by these constructions are selectable in E. coli and Streptomyces. These cassettes can be used for insertional mutagenesis or for vector construction.