A model for the molecular organisation of the IS911 transpososome

doi:10.1186/1759-8753-1-16

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Rousseau P
Tardin C
Tolou N
Salomé L
Chandler M

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Tolou N
Salomé L
Chandler M
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A model for the molecular organisation of the IS911 transpososome

Philippe Rousseau¹^,2 , Catherine Tardin²^,3^,4 , Nathalie Tolou¹^,2^,4 , Laurence Salomé²^,3^,4 and Mick Chandler²

¹Université de Toulouse; UPS; Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires, F-31000 Toulouse, France

²Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LMGM, F-31000 Toulouse, France

³Université de Toulouse; UPS; Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale, F-31000 Toulouse, France

⁴Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IPBS, F-31000 Toulouse, France

author email corresponding author email

Mobile DNA 2010, 1:16doi:10.1186/1759-8753-1-16


Published:	16 June 2010

Abstract

Tight regulation of transposition activity is essential to limit damage transposons may cause by generating potentially lethal DNA rearrangements. Assembly of a bona fide protein-DNA complex, the transpososome, within which transposition is catalysed, is a crucial checkpoint in this regulation. In the case of IS911, a member of the large IS3 bacterial insertion sequence family, the transpososome (synaptic complex A; SCA) is composed of the right and left inverted repeated DNA sequences (IRR and IRL) bridged by the transposase, OrfAB (the IS911-encoded enzyme that catalyses transposition). To characterise further this important protein-DNA complex in vitro, we used different tagged and/or truncated transposase forms and analysed their interaction with IS911 ends using gel electrophoresis. Our results allow us to propose a model in which SCA is assembled with a dimeric form of the transposase. Furthermore, we present atomic force microscopy results showing that the terminal inverted repeat sequences are probably assembled in a parallel configuration within the SCA. These results represent the first step in the structural description of the IS911 transpososome, and are discussed in comparison with the very few other transpososome examples described in the literature.