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A segment of DNA ( e.g., an R-factor gene) which has a repeat of an insertion sequence element at each end that can migrate from one plasmid to another within the same bacterium, to a bacterial chromosome, or to a bacteriophage; the mechanism of transposition seems to be independent of the host's usual recombination mechanism. See jumping gene, transposable element. [L. transpono, pp. transpositum, to transfer, + -on]
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trans·po·son .tran(t)s-'pō-.zän n a transposable element esp. when it contains genetic material controlling functions other than those related to its relocation
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trans·po·son (tranz-poґzon) a transposable element that carries additional genes, such as for drug resistance, besides merely those for transposition, particularly a complex one occurring in prokaryotes. The term, however, is sometimes used interchangeably with transposable element.Medical dictionary. 2011.