Aerobactin iron uptake sequences in plasmid ColV-K30 are flanked by inverted IS1-like elements and replication regions.

By using Southern blot hybridization procedures, we found that a specific sequence within a 16.3-kilobase HindIII restriction fragment of pColV-K30 was also present in at least three other pColV-K30 HindIII fragments. Restriction endonuclease mapping of these HindIII fragments indicated that two of these repeated sequences, identified as IS1-like, occur in reverse orientation adjacent to the ends of the aerobactin iron uptake region, also included in the 16.3-kilobase HindIII fragment. There are two distinct replication regions enclosing the IS1-flanked aerobactin genes. A pColV-K30 BamHI restriction endonuclease fragment, carrying one of these replication regions, showed homology with the F plasmid EcoRI fragment f5, which carries the F replication sequences.