Table 1.
Bacterial strains and plasmids used in the study
| Strain or plasmid | Relevant characteristic(s)a | Source or reference |
|---|---|---|
| Strains | ||
| S. mutans UA159 | Wild-type reference strain | Lab stock |
| E. coli DH10B | Host strain for cloning and plasmid production | Lab stock |
| ΔmazEF mutant | In-frame SMU.172-173 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | 47 |
| ΔrelBE mutant | In-frame SMU.895-896 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | This study |
| ΔmazEF ΔrelBE mutant | In-frame SMU.172-173 and SMU.895-896 double deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr Spr | This study |
| UA159(pIB166) | S. mutans UA159 harboring pIB166; Cmr | 47 |
| ΔmazEF(pMAS2) mutant | ΔmazEF harboring pMAS2; Emr Cmr | 47 |
| ΔrelBE(pVL1) mutant | ΔrelBE harboring pVL1; Emr Cmr | This study |
| ΔrnhB mutant | In-frame SMU.994 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | This study |
| ΔrnhC mutant | In-frame SMU.1873 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | This study |
| ΔfruA mutant | In-frame SMU.78 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | 28 |
| ΔscrR mutant | In-frame SMU.1844 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | This study |
| ΔclpP mutant | In-frame SMU.1672 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | This study |
| ΔcomC mutant | In-frame SMU.1915 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | 41 |
| ΔcomE mutant | In-frame SMU.1917 deletion mutant derived from S. mutans UA159; Emr | 41 |
| Plasmids | ||
| pIB166 | Shuttle plasmid containing the P23 lactococcal promoter; Cmr | 4 |
| pMAS2 | mazEF cloned into pIB166; Cmr | 47 |
| pVL1 | relBE cloned into pIB166; Cmr | This study |
a
Emr, erythromycin resistance; Cmr, chloramphenicol resistance; Spr, spectinomycin resistance.