Analysis of the insertion characteristics of Tn4351 during high frequency transposition of Porphyromonas gingivalis

In this study, we characterized the high frequency transfer of the Bacteroides fragilis transposon Tn4351 into the chromosome of Porphyromonas gingivalis using a system developed by Genco, et al. Using this system, transconjugants were isolated and genomic sequences analyzed using both Ava-I and EcoR1 to determine the insertion characteristics of Tn4351 into the genome of P. gingivalis. Although previous evidence pointed to the possibility of random insertion, this study shows that, in fact, the insertion characteristics of Tn4351 into the genome of P. gingivalis are nonrandom and predictable.