Functional features of oriV of the broad host range plasmid RSF1010 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Replication and conjugative mobilization of broad host-range IncQ plasmids

The IncQ plasmids have a broader host-range than any other known replicating element in bacteria. Studies on the replication and conjugative mobilization of these plasmids, which have mostly been focused on the nearly identical RSF1010 and R1162, are summarized with a view to understanding how this broad host-range is achieved. Several significant features of IncQ plasmids emerge from these studies: (1) initiation of replication, involving DnaA-independent activation of the origin and a dedicated primase, is strictly host-independent. (2) The plasmids can be conjugatively mobilized by a variety of different type IV transporters, including those engaged in the secretion of proteins involved in pathogenesis. (3) Stability is insured by a combination of high copy-number and modulated gene expression to reduce metabolic load.

Construction of stably maintained non-mobilizable derivatives of RSF1010 lacking all known elements essential for mobilization

Background

RSF1010 is a well-studied broad-host-range plasmid able to be mobilized to different bacteria and plants. RSF1010-derived plasmid vectors are widely used in both basic research and industrial applications. In the latter case, exploiting of mobilizable plasmids or even the plasmids possessing negligible mobilization frequency, but containing DNA fragments that could promote conjugal transfer, is undesirable because of biosafety considerations. Previously, several mutations significantly decreasing efficiency of RSF1010 mobilization have been selected. Nevertheless, construction of the RSF1010 derivative lacking all known loci involved in the conjugal transfer has not been reported yet.

Results

Novel non-mobilizable derivatives of RSF1010 lacking all known DNA sequences involved in the mobilization process have been obtained due to the exploiting of λRed-driven recombination between the plasmid and a constructed in vitro linear DNA fragment. To provide auto-regulated transcription of the essential replication gene, repB, the plasmid loci oriT, mobC and mobA were substituted by the DNA fragment containing P_lacUV5→lacI. Mobilization of the obtained RSFmob plasmid was not detected in standard tests. The derivative of RSFmob with increased copy number has been obtained after lacI elimination. High stability of both constructed plasmids has been demonstrated in Escherichia coli and Pantoea ananatis. Design of RSFmob allows easy substitution of P_lacUV5 by any desirable promoter for construction of novel derivatives with changed copy number or host range.

Conclusion

Novel non-mobilizable derivatives of RSF1010 lacking all known DNA sequences involved in the mobilization process and stably maintained at least in E. coli and P. ananatis have been constructed. The obtained plasmids became the progenitors of new cloning vectors answering all biosafety requirements of genetically modified organisms used in scale-up production.

Replication and control of circular bacterial plasmids

An essential feature of bacterial plasmids is their ability to replicate as autonomous genetic elements in a controlled way within the host. Therefore, they can be used to explore the mechanisms involved in DNA replication and to analyze the different strategies that couple DNA replication to other critical events in the cell cycle. In this review, we focus on replication and its control in circular plasmids. Plasmid replication can be conveniently divided into three stages: initiation, elongation, and termination. The inability of DNA polymerases to initiate de novo replication makes necessary the independent generation of a primer. This is solved, in circular plasmids, by two main strategies: (i) opening of the strands followed by RNA priming (theta and strand displacement replication) or (ii) cleavage of one of the DNA strands to generate a 3'-OH end (rolling-circle replication). Initiation is catalyzed most frequently by one or a few plasmid-encoded initiation proteins that recognize plasmid-specific DNA sequences and determine the point from which replication starts (the origin of replication). In some cases, these proteins also participate directly in the generation of the primer. These initiators can also play the role of pilot proteins that guide the assembly of the host replisome at the plasmid origin. Elongation of plasmid replication is carried out basically by DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (and, in some cases, by DNA polymerase I at an early stage), with the participation of other host proteins that form the replisome. Termination of replication has specific requirements and implications for reinitiation, studies of which have started. The initiation stage plays an additional role: it is the stage at which mechanisms controlling replication operate. The objective of this control is to maintain a fixed concentration of plasmid molecules in a growing bacterial population (duplication of the plasmid pool paced with duplication of the bacterial population). The molecules involved directly in this control can be (i) RNA (antisense RNA), (ii) DNA sequences (iterons), or (iii) antisense RNA and proteins acting in concert. The control elements maintain an average frequency of one plasmid replication per plasmid copy per cell cycle and can "sense" and correct deviations from this average. Most of the current knowledge on plasmid replication and its control is based on the results of analyses performed with pure cultures under steady-state growth conditions. This knowledge sets important parameters needed to understand the maintenance of these genetic elements in mixed populations and under environmental conditions.