Mobile Genetic Elements

Mobile genetic elements (MGE) are a type of DNA that can move around within the genome. They include:

  • Transposons (also called transposable elements)
    • Retrotransposons
    • DNA transposons
    • Insertion sequences
  • Plasmids
  • Bacteriophage elements, like Mu, which integrates randomly into the genome
  • Group II introns

The total of all mobile genetic elements in a genome may be referred to as the mobilome. Barbara McClintock was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for her discovery of mobile genetic elements".

Mobile genetic elements play a critical role in the spread of virulence factors, such as exotoxins and exoenzymes, amongst bacteria. Strategies to combat certain bacterial infections by targeting these specific virulence factors and mobile genetic elements have been proposed.

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