Discovery of the autonomously replicating plasmid pMF1 from Myxococcus fulvus and development of a gene cloning system in Myxococcus xanthus.

ABSTRACT: Myxobacteria are very important due to their unique characteristics, such as multicellular social behavior and the production of diverse and novel bioactive secondary metabolites. However, the lack of autonomously replicating plasmids has hindered genetic manipulation of myxobacteria for decades. To determine whether indigenous plasmids are present, we screened about 150 myxobacterial strains, and a circular plasmid designated pMF1 was isolated from Myxococcus fulvus 124B02. Sequence analysis showed that this plasmid was 18,634 bp long and had a G+C content of 68.7%. Twenty-three open reading frames were found in the plasmid, and 14 of them were not homologous to any known sequence. Plasmids containing the gene designated pMF1.14, which encodes a large unknown protein, were shown to transf

SUBMITTER: Zhao JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2292591 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature