title: Target capture during Mos1 transposition.
abstract: DNA transposition contributes to genomic plasticity. Target capture is a key step in the transposition process, because it contributes to the selection of new insertion sites. Nothing or little is known about how eukaryotic mariner DNA transposons trigger this step. In the case of Mos1, biochemistry and crystallography have deciphered several inverted terminal repeat-transposase complexes that are intermediates during transposition. However, the target capture complex is still unknown. Here, we show that the preintegration complex (i.e., the excised transposon) is the only complex able to capture a target DNA. Mos1 transposase does not support target commitment, which has been proposed to explain Mos1 random genomic integrations within host genomes. We demonstrate that the TA dinucleotide used as the target is crucial both to target recognition and in the chemistry of the strand transfer reaction. Bent DNA molecules are better targets for the capture when the target DNA is nicked two nucleotides apart from the TA. They improve strand transfer when the target DNA contains a mismatch near the TA dinucleotide.
authors.affiliation: From the EA 6306 Innovation Moléculaire et Thérapeutique, Université François Rabelais, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, UFR de Pharmacie, 37200 Tours, France.
authors.forename: Aude
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pflieger
authors.forename: Jerôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaillet
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Augé-Gouillou
authors.forename: Sylvaine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Renault
mesh_terms: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018900:Dinucleotide Repeats / Q000502:physiology*; D016678:Genome / Q000502:physiology; D019895:Transposases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C111652:mariner transposases; D019895:Transposases
keywords: DNA-Protein Interaction; Enzyme Mechanisms; Gene Transposable Elements; Genome Structure; Genomic Instability; Target Capture; Transposition