Il'ina T S
N. F. Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow.
Mol Gen Mikrobiol Virusol. 2001(1):3-12.
The review is focussed on two types of gene cassettes which are significant in bacterial variability. The first type are cassettes with antibiotic resistance genes; these are the smallest mobile genetic elements including a gene (most commonly an antibiotic resistance gene) and a short sequence acting as a recombination site. Sometimes these cassettes contain genes not responsible for antibiotic resistance but their functions are not yet known. The second type contains large clusters of genes coding for bacterial virulence factors. They were termed "pathogenicity islands" due to their difference in the percentage of G-C pairs in comparison with bacterial chromosomes, in which they are contained. The structural organization and mechanisms of mobility of various types of gene cassettes are discussed.
本综述聚焦于在细菌变异性方面具有重要意义的两类基因盒。第一类是带有抗生素抗性基因的基因盒；它们是最小的可移动遗传元件，包括一个基因（最常见的是抗生素抗性基因）和一个作为重组位点的短序列。有时这些基因盒包含不负责抗生素抗性的基因，但其功能尚不清楚。第二类包含编码细菌毒力因子的大基因簇。由于它们与所含细菌染色体相比，G-C对百分比存在差异，因此被称为“致病岛”。本文讨论了各类基因盒的结构组织和移动机制。
