Characterization and Movement of the Class 1 Integron Known as Tn2521 and Tn1405

Two putative transposons, Tn2521 and Tn1405, carrying determinants for the PSE-4 β-lactamase and for resistance to streptomycin, spectinomycin, and sulfonamides were previously isolated from the chromosome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Dalgleish. Detailed mapping and determination of the complete sequence of Tn2521 revealed that it is a class 1 integron, here renamed In33, with a backbone structure identical to that of In4 from Tn1696. In33 contains two gene cassettes, blaP1 and aadA1, replacing the aacC1-orfE-aadA2-cmlA1 cassette array in In4. Although In33 does not include any transposition genes, movement of In33 (Tn2521) targeted to a single location in the IncP-1 plasmid R18-18 has been reported previously (M. I. Sinclair and B. W. Holloway, J. Bacteriol. 151:569-579, 1982). A 5-bp duplication of the target, which lies within the res site recognized by the ParA resolvase of R18-18, was present, indicating that the mechanism of movement was transposition. Together, these data indicate that class 1 integrons that are defective in self-transposition can move under appropriate circumstances. The Tn1405 isolate studied was found to represent only the cassette array of In33, which had replaced the cassette array in the recipient plasmid R388, probably by homologous recombination.