Replication of plasmids from Staphylococcus aureus in Escherichia coli.

Abstract

Plasmid pBR322 derives from plasmid ColE1 and does not replicate in Escherichia coli strains lacking DNA polymerase I. Hybrids between pBR322 and a plasmid isolated from Staphylococcus aureus, pC194, replicate in such E. coli strains, provided that the pC194 replication region is intact. Inactivation of the pBR322 replication region does not interfere with the replication of hybrids in E. coli. Hybrids between pBR322 and. two other plasmids from S. aureus, pT127 and pUB112, replicate at the restrictive temperature in E. coli having thermosensitive DNA polymerase I. Similar hybrids involving pC221 and pHV400, plasmids from S. aureus and Bacillus subtilis, res ectively, do not replicate under such conditions. These resu ts show that some plasmids from a Grampositive bacterium, S. aureus, can replicate in a Gram-negative one, E. coli.

Transformation of the gram-positive bacterium Clavibacter xyli subsp. cynodontis by electroporation with plasmids from the IncP incompatibility group

“…In addition, there have been previous reports of gram-positive plasmids replicating in gram-negative bacteria (1,9,12,20 These results represent a significant step forward for studying the molecular biology of C. xyli subsp. cynodontis, for which no plasmid vectors exist.…”

Transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria

“…Although these observations do not rule out the possibility that transgram transfer by transduction or transformation can occur under natural conditions, an impossible claim to substantiate, we tested the possibility that the exchange of genetic material between distantly related species was mediated by conjugation (38). (5,12,14,33,45), plasmids from gram-positive bacteria cannot be stably maintained in gram-negative organisms, the possibility of transfer of genetic information by conjugation from gram-positive to gram-negative bacteria was studied with a hybrid bireplicon (38). The shuttle vector contained the transfer functions and the origin of replication of a broad-host-range enterococcal plasmid, the origin of replication of an enterobacterial plasmid, and a resistance gene, aphA-3, known to be expressed in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.…”

Replication origins of single-stranded-DNA plasmid pUB110

“…Interestingly, although many ssDNA plasmids replicate in two or more hosts (7,10,13,17), their M-Os are functional only in their native hosts. The palA-type M-Os of staphylococcal plasmids pT181, pC194, and pE194 (16) and the M-O of streptococcal plasmid pLS1 (7) are inactive in B. subtilis, and the pC194 paIA-type M-O is inactive in Streptococcus pneumoniae and E. coli (7).…”