Poster Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2017

Identification of two novel transposons that belong to the Tn5053-family (#316)

Vaheesan Rajabal 1 , Vilma Stanisich 1 , Steve Petrovski 1
  1. Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Microbiology, La Trobe University, bundoora, Victoria, Australia

Transposons that belong to the Tn5053-family terminate in 25-bp inverted repeats (IRs) that enclose two modules, a transposition (tni) module and a mercury (mer)-resistance module.  These elements exhibit an insertional preference towards a resolution (res) site in the presence of its cognate resolvase. Most studies on the prevalence of Tn5053-family transposons have been conducted on strains from natural environments. In contrast, we focussed on the epidemiology of such transposons in clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains collected from a local Melbourne hospital. Twenty-three Tn5053-related transposons were detected using a southern blot analysis and their identity confirmed by whole genome sequencing. Sequence analysis revealed that most were variants of already characterised transposons from geographically diverse locations. Two of the elements, here named TnPA41 and TnAW63, were novel. TnPA41 is a nested transposon, composed of a Tn5053-like element within another Tn5053-related element, and we showed that it can transpose intact, or in part. TnAW63 possess unique mer and tni modules and contains an additional 13 kb DNA segment, containing a chromate-resistance module integrated within the tniR gene. This DNA segment is flanked by 11 bp direct repeat sequences and encodes a kanamycin resistance gene and additional genes of unknown function. The origin and mode of acquisition of the embedded 13 kb DNA segment is unknown. TnPA41 was found within another transposon, at sites recognisable as res site and TnAW63 is located within a putative genomic island.