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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2007, p. 53-63, Vol. 73, No. 1
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01669-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Identification and Characterization of Conjugative Transposons CTn86 and CTn9343 in Bacteroides fragilis Strains{triangledown}

Simy L. Buckwold,1 Nadja B. Shoemaker,3 Cynthia L. Sears,1,2 and Augusto A. Franco1*

Divisions of Infectious Diseases,1 Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205,2 Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 618013

Received 18 July 2006/ Accepted 13 October 2006

The related genetic elements flanking the Bacteroides fragilis pathogenicity island (PAI) in enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (ETBF) 86-5443-2-2 and also present in pattern III nontoxigenic B. fragilis (NTBF) NCTC 9343 were defined as putative conjugative transposons (CTns), designated CTn86 and CTn9343, respectively (A. A. Franco, J. Bacteriol. 181:6623-6633, 2004). CTn86 and CTn9343 have the same basic structures except that their encoded transposases have low similarity and CTn9343 lacks the B. fragilis PAI and contains an extra 7-kb region not present in CTn86. In this study, using DNA hybridization and PCR analysis, we characterized the genetic element flanking the PAI in a collection of ETBF strains and the related genetic elements in a collection of NTBF pattern III strains. We found that in all 123 ETBF strains, the PAI is contained in a genetic element similar to CTn86. Of 73 pattern III strains, 26 (36%) present a genetic element similar to CTn9343, 38 (52%) present a genetic element similar to CTn9343 but lack the 7-kb region that is also absent in CTn86 (CTn9343-like element), and 9 (12%) present a genetic element similar to CTn86 but lacking the PAI (CTn86-like element). In addition to containing CTn86, ETBF strains can also contain CTn9343, CTn9343-like, or CTn86-like elements. CTn86, CTn9343, CTn86-like, and CTn9343-like elements were found exclusively in B. fragilis strains and predominantly in division I, cepA-positive strains.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Cancer Research Building II, 1550 Orleans Street, Loading Dock, Room 1M04, Baltimore, MD 21205. Phone: (410) 502-8240. Fax: (410) 502-5741. E-mail: afranco{at}jhem.jhmi.edu.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 27 October 2006.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2007, p. 53-63, Vol. 73, No. 1
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01669-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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