Characterization of the in vivo RNA product of the pOUT promoter of IS10R.

We characterized a single RNA species (RNAout1) which was the major in vivo RNA made from pOUT of IS10R. RNAout1 was 70 nucleotides long; its 5' end corresponded exactly to the in vitro start of pOUT transcription. The concentration of RNAout1 was estimated at 5 to 10 molecules per cell containing the single-copy plasmid NR1. RNA sequences from pOUT of IS10L were detected at a much lower (less than one molecule per cell) steady-state concentration and may be preferentially degraded in vivo. We suggest that the low level of the IS10L transcript led to the inability of IS10L sequences to translationally inhibit Tn10 transposition.