title: Structural and functional diversity among bacterial interspersed mosaic elements (BIMEs).
abstract: Palindromic units (PU or REP) were defined as 40-nucleotide DNA sequences which are highly repeated in the genome of several members of the Enterobacteriaceae. They were shown to be a constituent of the bacterial interspersed mosaic element (BIME), in which they are associated with other repetitive sequences. We report here that Escherichia coli PU sequences contain three motifs (Y, Z1 and Z2), leading to the definition of two BIME families. The BIME-1 family, highly conserved over 145 nucleotides, contains two PUs (motifs Y and Z1). The BIME-2 family contains a variable number of PUs (motifs Y and Z2). We present evidence, using band shift experiments, that each PU motif binds DNA gyrase with a different affinity. This suggests that the two families are functionally distinct.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Programmation Moléculaire et Toxicologie Génétique, CNRS URA, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bachellier
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Saurin
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofnung
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gilson
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II