Natural plasmid transformation in a high-frequency-of-transformation marine Vibrio strain.

Natural plasmid transformation in a high-frequency-of-transformation marine Vibrio strain. M E Frischer , J M Thurmond and J H Paul Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg 33701-5016. ABSTRACT The estuarine bacterium Vibrio strain DI-9 has been shown to be naturally transformable with both broad host range plasmid multimers and homologous chromosomal DNA at average frequencies of 3.5 X 10(-9) and 3.4 X 10(-7) transformants per recipient, respectively. Growth of plasmid transformants in nonselective medium resulted in cured strains that transformed 6 to 42, 857 times more frequently than the parental strain, depending on the type of transforming DNA. These high-frequency-of-transformation (HfT) strains were transformed at frequencies ranging from 1.1 X 10(-8) to 1.3 X 10(-4) transformants per recipient with plasmid DNA and at an average frequency of 8.3 X 10(-5) transformants per recipient with homologous chromosomal DNA. The highest transformation frequencies were observed by using multimers of an R1162 derivative carrying the transposon Tn5 (pQSR50). Probing of total DNA preparations from one of the cured strains demonstrated that no plasmid DNA remained in the cured strains which may have provided homology to the transforming DNA. All transformants and cured strains could be differentiated from the parental strains by colony morphology. DNA binding studies indicated that late-log-phase HfT strains bound (3H)bacteriophage lambda DNA 2.1 times more rapidly than the parental strain. These results suggest that the original plasmid transformation event of strain DI-9 was the result of uptake and expression of plasmid DNA by a competent mutant (HfT strain). Additionally, it was found that a strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, USFS 3420, could be naturally transformed with plasmid DNA. Natural plasmid transformation by high-transforming mutants may be a means of plasmid acquisition by natural aquatic bacterial populations. CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article Appl. Environ. Microbiol. November 1990 vol. 56 no. 11 3439-3444 » Abstract PDF Classifications Research Article Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in ASM journals Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of AEM Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via Web of Science Citing articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Frischer, M. E. Articles by Paul, J. H. Search for related content PubMed PubMed citation Articles by Frischer, M. E. Articles by Paul, J. H. Related Content Load related web page information Social Bookmarking CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? current issue December 2011, volume 77, issue 23 Alert me to new issues of AEM About AEM Subscribers Authors Reviewers Advertisers Inquiries from the Press Permissions & Commercial Reprints ASM Journals Public Access Policy AEM RSS Feeds 1752 N Street N.W. • Washington DC 20036 202.737.3600 • 202.942.9355 fax • [email protected] Print ISSN: 0099-2240 Online ISSN: 1098-5336 Copyright © 2011 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to AEM .asm.org, visit: http://intl- AEM .asm.org | More Info»