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. 1974 Mar;117(3):1149–1152. doi: 10.1128/jb.117.3.1149-1152.1974

Extrachromosomal Elements in Group N Streptococci1

B R Cords a, L L McKay a, Patricia Guerry a,2
PMCID: PMC246595  PMID: 4205191

Abstract

The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of Streptococcus lactis C2, S. cremoris B1, and S. diacetilactis 18-16 was labeled by growing cells in Trypticase soy broth containing 3H-labeled thymine. The cells were gently lysed with lysozyme, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and sodium lauryl sulfate. The chromosomal DNA was separated from plasmid DNA by precipitation with 1.0 M sodium chloride. The existence of covalently closed circular DNA in the three organisms was shown by cesium chloride-ethidium bromide equilibrium density gradient centrifugation of the cleared lysate material. In an attempt to correlate the loss of lactose metabolism with the loss of plasmid DNA, lactose-negative mutants of these organisms were examined for the presence of extrachromosomal particles. Covalently closed circular DNA was detected in the lactose-negative mutants of S. lactis C2 and S. diacetilactis 18-16. In S. cremoris B1, however, no covalently closed circular DNA was observed by using cesium chloride-ethidium bromide gradients. Electron micrographs of the satellite band material from S. lactis C2 and its lactose-negative mutant confirmed the presence of plasmid DNA. Three distinct plasmids having approximate molecular weights of 1.3 × 106, 2.1 × 106, and 5.1 × 106 were observed in both organisms.

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Selected References

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

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