DNA structures contributing to the instability of recombinant plasmids inStreptococcus thermophilus

Expression of a Lactococcus lactis Phage Resistance Mechanism by Streptococcus thermophilus

The 7.8-kb lactococcal plasmid pSRQ700 encodes the LlaII restriction/modification system which recognizes and cleaves the sequence 3(prm1)-GATC-5(prm1). When the plasmid pSRQ700 is introduced into a phage-sensitive Lactococcus lactis strain, strong phage resistance is conferred by the LlaII system. In this report, we show that pSRQ700 cannot replicate in Streptococcus thermophilus. However, if cloned into the vector pNZ123, the native LlaII system is expressed and strong phage resistance is conferred to various industrial S. thermophilus strains. Resistance against phages isolated from yogurt and mozzarella wheys was observed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of increased phage resistance in S. thermophilus.

Stability of a recombinant shuttle plasmid in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli

The recombinant shuttle plasmid pCPPS-31, which confers carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) production and neomycin resistance (Ner), was segregationally but not structurally unstable in both B. subtilis (50-60%) and Escherichia coli (80-90%) when grown in serial batch cultures for 72 h diluting 1:1,000 with fresh medium every 24 h. The plasmid showed 80-100% segregational and complete structural stability in B. subtilis during batch, fed-batch, and continuous culture fermentations in minimal M9 medium. In E. coli the instability was > or = 50% in 36 h of batch or continuous culture and approached 100% in 72 h of continuous fermentation. The plasmid was more stable (> or = 60%) during fed-batch fermentation. Stability in B. subtilis and instability in E. coli may be attributed to (i) the significant growth-rate advantage of plasmid-free (P-) cells over plasmid-harboring (P+) cells in the case of E. coli, an advantage that was absent in B. subtilis, and (ii) the existence of plasmid in oligomeric forms in E. coli and in mainly monomeric forms in B. subtilis.