Cloning of Lac+ BamHI fragment into transposon Tn3 and transposition of the Tn3[lac] element

IS21 insertion in the trfA replication control gene of chromosomally integrated plasmid RP1: a property of stable Pseudomonas aeruginosa Hfr strains

Broad host range IncP-1 plasmids are able to integrate into the chromosome of gram-negative bacteria. Strains carrying an integrated plasmid can be obtained when the markers of a temperature-sensitive (ts) plasmid derivative are selected at non-permissive temperature; in this way Hfr (high frequency) donor strains can be formed. The integrated plasmids, however, tend to be unstable in the absence of continuous selective pressure. In order to obtain stable Hfr donor strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO, we constructed a derivative of an RP1 (ts) plasmid, pME134, which was defective in the resolvase gene (tnpR) of transposon Tn801. Chromosomal integration of pME134 was selected in a recombination-deficient (rec-102) PAO strain at 43 degrees C. Plasmid integration occurred at different sites resulting in a useful set of Hfr strains that transferred chromosomal markers unidirectionally. The tnpR and rec-102 mutations prevented plasmid excision from the chromosome. In several (but not all) Hfr strains that grew well and retained the integrated plasmid at temperatures below 43 degrees C, the insertion element IS21 of RP1 was found to be inserted into the trfA locus (specifying an essential trans-acting replication function) of the integrated plasmid. One such Hfr strain was rendered rec+; from its chromosome the pME134::IS21 plasmid (= pME14) was excised and transferred by conjugation to Escherichia coli where pME14 could replicate autonomously only when a helper plasmid provided the trfA+ function in trans. Thus, it appears that trfA inactivation favours the stability of chromosomally integrated RP1 in P. aeruginosa.

New replication mutant pNH602 and its relationship to plasmid pAS3, another deletion derivative of plasmid R6K

A stable deletion derivative pNH602 was obtained when the recently described higher-copy-number point mutant pNH601 of plasmid R6K was introduced to a minicells-producing strain of Escherichia coli. The size of plasmid pNH602 is 18.8 Mg/mol as determined by electron microscopy. The 7.2 Mg/mol fragment of R6K genome missing in pNH602 carries the Smr-determinant and the region finO and, according to the results of restriction analysis, it includes one EcoRI site. With its radioisotopically determined 33 copies of pNH602 per E. coli K-12 chromosome (npc), representing a 23% increase of the point mutant pNH601 and 150% enhancement of R6K npc, plasmid pNH602 differs from another closely related R6K deletion derivative pAS3 of the same size which exhibits only 20 npc. Both pNH602 and pAS3 plasmids are conjugative.

Read-through transcription from a derepressed Tn3 promoter affects ColE1 functions on a ColE1::Tn3 composite plasmid

Mutations in the repressor encoded by the transposon Tn3 tnpR gene lead to increased levels of expression of two gene products: the mutant repressor (TnpR-) and the Tn3 encoded transposase, TnpA (Heffron et al. 1978; Chou et al. 1979a). Derivatives of the ColE1::Tn3 composite plasmid, RSF2124, with mutant Tn3 repressor exhibited the expected elevated levels of transposition. Unexpectedly, hosts containing these tnpR- derivatives produced enhanced levels of the ColE1 encoded toxin, colicin E1. The gene for colicin E1 maps far (0.23-0.98 MU) from the Tn3 insertion point (0.73 MU) (Fig. 1). The colicin E1 overproduction phenotype, designated Eop-, was complemented in trans by wild type repressor gene product (TnpR+) to the wild type phenotype, Eop+. Hosts with RSF2124 derivatives which expressed high levels of both mutant repressor and mutant transposase (TnpR-, TnpA-) were Eop-. Hosts containing plasmids deleted for both tnpA and tnpR promoters were Eop+, while hosts with plasmids carrying a lac promoter substitution for the tnpA promoter were Eop-. These data support the idea that a cis-acting effect of increased transcription from the tnpA promoter into adjacent ColE1 DNA was the cause of colicin overproduction. Increased transcription activated a putative colicin augmentation function (caf) whose presence was required for the Eop- phenotype. Deletion mapping established that one boundary of the caf locus lies within 52 bases of the junction of the left end of Tn3 and ColE1 DNA. ColE1 DNA in this area contains an open reading frame which could encode either a 74 or a 63 residue protein (B. Polisky, unpublished DNA sequence data). The presence of increased levels of an mRNA transcript from this region and/or the increased expression of protein(s) from this transcript could result in an Eop- phenotype. Expression of the Eop- phenotype requires the presence of the host recE gene. Evidence is presented which suggests that the recA repressor, lexA protein, controls expression of the recE gene product, ExoVIII.

Drug resistance and R plasmids in Bordetella bronchiseptica isolates from pigs

A total of 207 strains of Bordetella bronchiseptica isolated from pigs in 1978 and 1979 were tested for drug resistance and for the properties of their R plasmids. Apart from intrinsic resistance to spectinomycin, single (sulfadimethoxine), double (sulfadimethoxine and streptomycin), andt riple (sulfadimethoxine, streptomycin, and ampicillin) resistance were found in 54.1%, 1.0%, and 15.9% of the strains, respectively. All of the triple-resistance determinants were associated with mercury resistance and were conjugative. pBB1, one of these R plasmids, was identified as Fi- (F) and Spp- (no suppression of phage multiplication) type, and as a member of incompatability group IncP. The single- and double-resistance determinants were nonconjugative. pBB2, one of the double-resistance determinants, was mobilized by an R plasmid, RP4, with the high efficiency of 80% and at a frequency of 3.3% without cotransfer of RP4. The molecular weight of pBB1 and pBB2 was estimated at 36 X 10(6) and 13 X 10(6) daltons, respectively, by electron microscopy and agarose gel electrophoresis. pBB1 had five cleavage sites for EcoRI endonuclease, and four sites for HindIII. pBB2 had two EcoRI sites, one HindIII, and one BamHI site. Cells carrying pBB1 or pBB2 produced enzymic activity tha inactivated streptomycin in the presence of ATP.