Study of a DNA transposon in the lyme disease spirochete

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DNA transposons are ubiquitous mobile genetic elements. They play important roles in shaping genome evolution by changing the physical structure of chromosomes as well as affecting gene expression. Borrelia burgdorferi possess a single class of transposon of the IS605/IS200 class that transposes via single stranded DNA. Accordingly, the transposase binds to and performs transposition with the transposon ends folded into DNA hairpins. B. burgdorferi genomes also have a transposon end physically linked to the 3'-ends of two classes of lipoprotein genes, constituting a conserved RNA hairpin element in the 3'-UTR. We will study if the transposon is mobilizable and if the transposase has been co-opted to control RNA stability of the lipoproteins genes' messenger RNAs that possess a transposon end in their 3'-UTRs.