Mobilization of IMEs Integrated in the of ICEs Involves Their Own Relaxase Belonging to the Rep-Trans Family of Proteins.

Integrative mobilizable elements (IMEs) are widespread but very poorly studied integrated elements that can excise and hijack the transfer apparatus of co-resident conjugative elements to promote their own spreading. Sixty-four putative IMEs, harboring closely related mobilization and recombination modules, were found in 14 species and in . Fifty-three are integrated into the origin of transfer () of a host integrative conjugative element (ICE), encoding a MobT relaxase and belonging to three distant families: ICE, Tn, and ICE.