By transposon Tn5
mutagenesis,
19 strains of Pseudomonas stutzeri were acquired that had
defects
in nitrous oxide respiration (Nos- phenotype). A physical
map
of the mutants showed nearly random Tn5 insertions into genomic
DNA within a single region ca. 8 kilobases long. Mutants were
characterized
immunochemically, enzymatically, and chemically. Several functions
related
to the synthesis and regulation of nitrous oxide reductase were
associated
with this DNA region, indicating that in P. stutzeri part of
the
genetic information necessary to respire nitrous oxide is clustered.