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Inefficiency of Genetic Recombination in Hybrids Between Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhosa

¹ Department of Bacterial Immunology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C. 20012

ABSTRACT

An Escherichia coli Hfr strain in which three negative chromosomal alleles (leu^–, arg^–, and mtl^–) were closely linked to three positive alleles (ara⁺, rha⁺, and xyl⁺, respectively) was employed in matings with a Salmonella typhosa recipient. The detected expression of the negative E. coli alleles in S. typhosa hybrids selected for receipt of an associated positive E. coli marker was used to determine the occurrence of haploid S. typhosa recombinants, as distinguished from stable partial diploid hybrids. At the same time, the inheritance patterns and segregation behavior of the positive alleles provided indicators of the occurrence of partial diploid hybrids. Examination of both positive and negative markers inherited by ara⁺, rha⁺, and xyl^– selected S. typhosa hybrid classes indicated that relatively short E. coli chromosomal segments (generally about 4 min or less in length) were involved in recombination (haploidy), whereas rather extensive E. coli genetic segments were conserved in the diploid state. S. typhosa hybrids selected for receipt of the ara⁺ marker showed a 52% incidence of leu^– haploidy, which is probably close to being an accurate measure of recombination at the site of the ara⁺ allele. S. typhosa hybrids selected for receipt of the rha⁺ or xyl⁺ markers showed only a 20% incidence of arg^– or mtl^– haploidy, respectively, but both of these hybrid classes exhibited a higher incidence of conservation of extensive E. coli diploid segments than did the ara⁺ selected class. Remating of haploid S. typhosa hybrids with recombinant xyl⁺mtl^– or rha⁺arg^– regions resulted in higher frequencies of hybrid recovery than were observed in the initial matings. However, there was a higher incidence of partial diploidy and a lower incidence of haploidy among the hybrids obtained from these rematings.