A number of T-DNA insertions in the genome of Nicotiana tabacum were characterized. One class of integrations was found to have occurred in a new family of highly repetitive sequences. Three genomic regions (ecoA, ecoB, and ecoC) were isolated, all of which contain basic units of 180 bp, organized in direct tandem repeats. Several of the 180-bp elements contain an EcoRI recognition site within the repeating unit and are therefore named "eco repeats." All members of this family are weakly homologous in sequence to a previously described class of repeat elements which contained a BamHI site (HRS60 repeat family), which suggests that both groups of sequences are of common evolutionary origin. The allotetraploid genome of N. tabacum is presumed to originate from the hybridization of two diploid genomes. The HRS60 elements previously described have been found exclusively in the genome of one of the ancestors, N. sylvestris, and in N. tabacum itself. Our DNA hybridization data suggest that the eco elements originate from the genome of the other ancestor, N. tomentosiformis. Whereas the HRS60 elements are transcriptionally silent, at least some eco elements appear to be transcribed.