Duplication in the region of the phoA and lacZ genes on the Escherichia coli K-12 chromosome

Transduction of genetic markers phoA1::Tn5 and lacZ::Tn10 was used to show the high frequency of occurrence of duplication (5-8%) carrying the above mentioned genes without application of selection for the increase of their function. Genetic tests were used to show that duplicated segments vary in size and in some cases comprise the whole lacZ-phoA region of Escherichia coli K-12 chromosome.