ISs are small mobile genetic elements, each of which contains one or more transposase genes and is bordered by IRL (inverted repeat left) and IRR (inverted repeat right), and can be divided into 29 families 1. ISs rarely contain accessory genes, but all the other kinds of transposons frequently carry one or more accessory genes including drug resistance genes.
1. Siguier P, Perochon J, Lestrade L et al. ISfinder: the reference centre for bacterial insertion sequences. Nucleic Acids Res 2006; 34: D32-6.