Bioinformatic evidence and characterization of novel putative large conjugative transposons residing in genomes of genera <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacteroides</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Prevotella</Emphasis>

Bioinformatic evidence of the presence of a large conjugative transposon in ruminal bacterium Prevotella bryantii B₁4^T is presented. The described transposon appears to be related to another large conjugative transposon CTnBST, described in Bacteroides uniformis WH207 and to the conjugative transposon CTn3-Bf, which was observed in the genome of Bacteroides fragilis strain YCH46. All three transposons share tra gene regions with high amino acid identity and clearly conserved gene order. Additionally, a second conserved region consisting of hypothetical genes was discovered in all three transposons and named the GG region. This region served as a specific sequence signature and made possible the discovery of several other apparently related hypothetical conjugative transposons in bacteria from the genus Bacteroides. A cluster of genes involved in sugar utilization and metabolism was discovered within the hypothetical CTnB₁4, to a certain extent resembling the polysaccharide utilization loci which were described recently in some Bacteroides strains. This is the first firm report on the presence of a large mobile genetic element in any strain from the genus Prevotella.