Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1985 Jan;161(1):292–298. doi: 10.1128/jb.161.1.292-298.1985

Stable inheritance of plasmid R1 requires two different loci.

K Gerdes, J E Larsen, S Molin
PMCID: PMC214870  PMID: 2981804

Abstract

The largest EcoRI fragment from plasmid R1 mediates a stability phenotype which is required to ensure the stable inheritance of this low-copy-number plasmid. When covalently linked to small, unstable R1 derivatives, this fragment makes the plasmids as stable as the wild-type R1 plasmid. A genetic analysis showed that two independently acting stabilization functions are encoded by this EcoRI fragment, both of which have the potential of partial stabilization of mini-R1 plasmids. The two loci are located at opposite ends of the fragment. Stabilization was also obtained by inserting these regions in unrelated, unstable plasmids from the p15 group. One of the two functions was very efficient in stabilizing such foreign replicons. Besides the stability phenotype, these genes exert incompatibility in an allele-specific manner. The stability functions do not seem to interfere seriously with the copy number of the plasmid.

Full text

PDF
295

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. An G., Friesen J. D. Plasmid vehicles for direct cloning of Escherichia coli promoters. J Bacteriol. 1979 Nov;140(2):400–407. doi: 10.1128/jb.140.2.400-407.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Austin S., Abeles A. Partition of unit-copy miniplasmids to daughter cells. I. P1 and F miniplasmids contain discrete, interchangeable sequences sufficient to promote equipartition. J Mol Biol. 1983 Sep 15;169(2):353–372. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80055-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BERTANI G. Studies on lysogenesis. I. The mode of phage liberation by lysogenic Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1951 Sep;62(3):293–300. doi: 10.1128/jb.62.3.293-300.1951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Berg D. E., Davies J., Allet B., Rochaix J. D. Transposition of R factor genes to bacteriophage lambda. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Sep;72(9):3628–3632. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.9.3628. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Birnboim H. C., Doly J. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 24;7(6):1513–1523. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.6.1513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bolivar F., Rodriguez R. L., Greene P. J., Betlach M. C., Heyneker H. L., Boyer H. W., Crosa J. H., Falkow S. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II. A multipurpose cloning system. Gene. 1977;2(2):95–113. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Casadaban M. J., Chou J., Cohen S. N. In vitro gene fusions that join an enzymatically active beta-galactosidase segment to amino-terminal fragments of exogenous proteins: Escherichia coli plasmid vectors for the detection and cloning of translational initiation signals. J Bacteriol. 1980 Aug;143(2):971–980. doi: 10.1128/jb.143.2.971-980.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Clewell D. B., Helinski D. R. Supercoiled circular DNA-protein complex in Escherichia coli: purification and induced conversion to an opern circular DNA form. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Apr;62(4):1159–1166. doi: 10.1073/pnas.62.4.1159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cohen S. N., Chang A. C., Hsu L. Nonchromosomal antibiotic resistance in bacteria: genetic transformation of Escherichia coli by R-factor DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Aug;69(8):2110–2114. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.8.2110. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Larsen J. E., Gerdes K., Light J., Molin S. Low-copy-number plasmid-cloning vectors amplifiable by derepression of an inserted foreign promoter. Gene. 1984 Apr;28(1):45–54. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(84)90086-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Light J., Molin S. Replication control functions of plasmid R1 act as inhibitors of expression of a gene required for replication. Mol Gen Genet. 1981;184(1):56–61. doi: 10.1007/BF00271195. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Meacock P. A., Cohen S. N. Partitioning of bacterial plasmids during cell division: a cis-acting locus that accomplishes stable plasmid inheritance. Cell. 1980 Jun;20(2):529–542. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90639-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Miki T., Easton A. M., Rownd R. H. Cloning of replication, incompatibility, and stability functions of R plasmid NR1. J Bacteriol. 1980 Jan;141(1):87–99. doi: 10.1128/jb.141.1.87-99.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Molin S., Stougaard P., Uhlin B. E., Gustafsson P., Nordström K. Clustering of genes involved in replication, copy number control, incompatibility, and stable maintenance of the resistance plasmid R1drd-19. J Bacteriol. 1979 Apr;138(1):70–79. doi: 10.1128/jb.138.1.70-79.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Nordström K., Molin S., Aagaard-Hansen H. Partitioning of plasmid R1 in Escherichia coli. II. Incompatibility properties of the partitioning system. Plasmid. 1980 Nov;4(3):332–339. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(80)90071-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Novick R. P., Clowes R. C., Cohen S. N., Curtiss R., 3rd, Datta N., Falkow S. Uniform nomenclature for bacterial plasmids: a proposal. Bacteriol Rev. 1976 Mar;40(1):168–189. doi: 10.1128/br.40.1.168-189.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ogura T., Hiraga S. Mini-F plasmid genes that couple host cell division to plasmid proliferation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Aug;80(15):4784–4788. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.15.4784. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Ogura T., Hiraga S. Partition mechanism of F plasmid: two plasmid gene-encoded products and a cis-acting region are involved in partition. Cell. 1983 Feb;32(2):351–360. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90454-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Prentki P., Krisch H. M. A modified pBR322 vector with improved properties for the cloning, recovery, and sequencing of blunt-ended DNA fragments. Gene. 1982 Feb;17(2):189–196. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90072-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Stougaard P., Molin S. Vertical dye-buoyant density gradients for rapid analysis and preparation of plasmid DNA. Anal Biochem. 1981 Nov 15;118(1):191–193. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(81)90177-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Uhlin B. E., Nordström K. Plasmid incompatibility and control of replication: copy mutants of the R-factor R1 in Escherichia coli K-12. J Bacteriol. 1975 Nov;124(2):641–649. doi: 10.1128/jb.124.2.641-649.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Valentin-Hansen P. Tandem CRP binding sites in the deo operon of Escherichia coli K-12. EMBO J. 1982;1(9):1049–1054. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1982.tb01295.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES