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Journal of Bacteriology, October 2001, p. 5472-5481, Vol. 183, No. 19
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and
Immunology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1H 8M5
Received 8 January 2001/Accepted 27 June 2001
The
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.19.5472-5481.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Multiple Origins and Replication Proteins Influence Biological
Properties of
-Lactamase-Producing Plasmids from
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
and
-lactamase-producing Asia-type plasmid pJD4 of
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a 7.4-kb, broad-host-range
plasmid. It is part of a family of plasmids which are structurally
related yet vary in size, found in both N.
gonorrhoeae and Haemophilus ducreyi. Branch-point analysis by electron microscopy indicates that pJD4 carries three clustered but distinguishable origins of replication, which we named ori1, ori2, and ori3.
Although pJD4 belongs to incompatibility (Inc) group W, it also carries
a silent IncFII determinant which is expressed when ori2
and ori3 are absent. The Africa-type plasmid pJD5, a
naturally occurring deletion derivative of pJD4, carries only
ori1, belongs to the IncFII group, and, in contrast to
pJD4, requires DNA polymerase I (Pol I) for replication. Plasmids
constructed from pJD4 which lack ori1 but carry
ori2 and ori3 do not require Pol I and
are incompatible with IncW plasmids, suggesting that the
ori2 or ori3 region contains the IncW
determinant. We have cloned a replication initiation protein
(RepB) that is necessary for ori2 and
ori3 to function. This Rep protein is distinct from RepA, which is necessary for ori1. Thus,
pJD4 is unique because it is the smallest plasmid characterized
containing three origins of replication and two unique Rep proteins.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1H 8M5. Phone: (613) 562-5459. Fax: (613) 562-5452. E-mail: jdillon{at}uottawa.ca.
Present address: Microbiology Research Division, Bureau of Microbial
Hazards, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Banting
Research Centre, PL 2204A2, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0L2.
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