Co-assortment in integron-associated gene cassette assemblages in environmental DNA samples.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It has been shown that integron-associated gene cassettes exist largely in tandem arrays of variable size, ranging from antibiotic resistance arrays of three to five cassettes up to arrays of more than 100 cassettes associated with the vibrios. Further, the ecology of the integron/gene cassette system has been investigated by showing that very many different cassettes are present in even small environmental samples. In this study, we seek to extend the ecological perspective on the integron/gene cassette system by investigating the way in which this diverse cassette metagenome is apportioned amongst prokaryote lineages in a natural environment.

Results

We used a combination of PCR-based techniques applied to environmental DNA samples and ecological analytical tech

SUBMITTER: Michael CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2927473 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature