Enhancers of site-specific recombination in bacteria

Enhancers of DNA inversion in bacteria are sites that bind specific proteins. These complexes can act at distances of more than 5 kbp to enhance the rate of site-specific recombination 200-fold. Characterization of the recombination reaction suggests that the enhancer may function to stabilize a synaptic structure that is competent for strand exchange. The role of the enhancer as an element that mediates the stabilization of specific DNA-protein configurations to provide for the action of enzymes such as recombinases is described.