Transposons, or “jumping genes” – DNA segments that can move from one part of the genome to another – are key to bacterial evolution and the development of antibiotic resistance. Cornell researchers have discovered a new mechanism these genes use to survive and propagate in bacteria with linear DNA, with applications in biotechnology and drug development. “This is a big part of their biology,” said senior author Joseph Peters, professor of microbiology in @CornellCALS. “Bacteria are like these little tinkerers. They’re always collecting these mobile DNA pieces, and they’re making new functions all the time – everything in antibiotic resistance is really about mobile genetic elements and almost always transposons that can move between bacteria.” With some technologies not available even five years ago, the researchers identified several families of transposons in cyanobacteria and Streptomyces that, using different mechanisms, can find and insert themselves at the telomere, with benefits for the transposon and their bacterial host. For one, inserting at the end of the chromosome helps the transposon avoid genes for the cell’s core functioning, which reside in the middle of the chromosomes; transposons that can target the ends are less likely to disrupt an essential function or cause cell death. More at news.cornell.edu/stories/202….