title: Distribution and genomic location of active insertion sequences in the Burkholderia cepacia complex.
abstract: This study aimed firstly to establish the distribution and copy number within the Burkholderia cepacia complex of three insertion sequences (IS402, IS407 and IS1416) that possess the ability to activate transcription and hence influence gene expression. A second aim was to map the genomic insertion sites of one of the active insertion sequences (IS407) to establish putative links between insertion site and downstream gene activation. The resulting data revealed that all three insertion sequences were present in one-third of the 66 isolates tested. The three insertion sequences were prevalent across the nine B. cepacia complex species, although IS402 was absent from the 16 Burkholderia anthina strains tested and IS407 was absent from all 10 Burkholderia pyrrocinia strains. IS407 copies from six strains (two Burkholderia cenocepacia strains and one strain each of Burkholderia multivorans, Burkholderia stabilis, Burkholderia vietnamiensis and B. anthina) were mapped to the genome using hemi-nested inverse PCR. Insertions were found upstream of genes with wide-ranging functions. This study suggests that the abundance and distribution of these active insertion sequences is likely to affect genomic plasticity, and potentially gene transcription and pathogenicity.
authors.affiliation: Cystic Fibrosis Laboratory, Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK.
authors.forename: Dervla T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Kenna
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, Maurice Shock Building, University Road, PO Box 138, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yesilkaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK.
authors.forename: Ken J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Forbes
authors.affiliation: Cystic Fibrosis Laboratory, Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK.
authors.forename: Victoria A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Barcus
authors.affiliation: Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, Faculteit Wetenschappen, Universiteit Gent, Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vandamme
authors.affiliation: Cystic Fibrosis Laboratory, Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK.
authors.forename: John R W
authors.initials: JRW
authors.lastname: Govan
mesh_terms: D019121:Burkholderia Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D042602:Burkholderia cepacia complex / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000382:microbiology; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D018628:Gene Dosage; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements