Transposon Tn5 specifies streptomycin resistance in Rhizobium spp.

Transposon Tn5 conferred streptomycin resistance on different strains of Rhizobium meliloti, Rhizobium leguminosarum, and Rhizobium trifolii but not on Escherichia coli. A gene (str) specifying this phenotype has been identified and localized on the physical and genetic map of Tn5. It is transcribed from the promoter of neo, the gene that encodes neomycin phosphotransferase. The str gene is downstream from neo in a single transcriptional unit, as revealed by molecular cloning of different segments of Tn5 and by cloning of the neo-str region of Tn5 downstream from a lac promoter. Fusion of the SalI-generated rightward segment of Tn5 (devoid of neo) to a part of a tetracycline resistance gene, tet, in a plasmid or downstream from a lac promoter in a plasmid resulted in significant levels of streptomycin resistance in an R. meliloti host, suggesting that the str gene product can function independent of neomycin phosphotransferase. A natural isolate of R. meliloti that does not express Tn5-associated streptomycin resistance has been identified. We have used the str of Tn5 as a genetic marker in Rhizobium spp.