TY - JOUR AU - Ho, Wing Sze AU - Ou, Hong-Yu AU - Yeo, Chew Chieng AU - Thong, Kwai Lin PY - 2015 DA - 2015/03/17 TI - The dnd operon for DNA phosphorothioation modification system in Escherichia coli is located in diverse genomic islands JO - BMC Genomics SP - 199 VL - 16 IS - 1 AB - Strains of Escherichia coli that are non-typeable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) due to in-gel degradation can influence their molecular epidemiological data. The DNA degradation phenotype (Dnd+) is mediated by the dnd operon that encode enzymes catalyzing the phosphorothioation of DNA, rendering the modified DNA susceptible to oxidative cleavage during a PFGE run. In this study, a PCR assay was developed to detect the presence of the dnd operon in Dnd+E. coli strains and to improve their typeability. Investigations into the genetic environments of the dnd operon in various E. coli strains led to the discovery that the dnd operon is harboured in various diverse genomic islands. SN - 1471-2164 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-1421-8 DO - 10.1186/s12864-015-1421-8 ID - Ho2015 ER -