Involvement of ς S in Starvation-Induced Transposition of Pseudomonas putida Transposon Tn 4652

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Transpositional activity of mobile elements can be induced by different environmental stresses. Here, we present evidence that transposition of Tn 4652 is elevated in stationary-phase Pseudomonas putida and suppressed in an isogenic ς S -defective strain. We demonstrate that transcription from the Tn 4652 transposase promoter is controlled by the stationary-phase-specific sigma factor ς S . To our knowledge, this is the first example of direct stationary-phase-specific regulation of a mobile element transposase. Data presented in this report support the idea that activation of transposition under stressful conditions could be an inducible process.