msDNA-Ec48, the smallest multicopy single-stranded DNA from Escherichia coli

Research was conducted to investigate the structure of msDNA-Ec48, a multicopy single-stranded DNA in Escherichia coli produced by reverse transcriptase. Southern hybridization was utilized to map the location of the msDNA-containing region in the original clone. Results suggested that the msDNA-Ec48 is characterized by 1991 ribonucleotides. They also indicated that retron-Ec48 is related to a prophage associated with phages P2 and P4.