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J. Bacteriol., Oct 1997, 6221-6227, Vol 179, No. 20
AJ Cooper, AP Kalinowski, NB Shoemaker and AA Salyers
We report the construction and analysis of a Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron
recA disruption mutant and an investigation of whether RecA is required for
excision and integration of Bacteroides mobile DNA elements. The recA
mutant was deficient in homologous recombination and was more sensitive
than the wild-type strain to DNA-damaging agents. The recA mutant was also
more sensitive to oxygen than the wild type, indicating that repair of DNA
contributes to the aerotolerance of B. thetaiotaomicron. Many Bacteroides
clinical isolates carry self- transmissible chromosomal elements known as
conjugative transposons. These conjugative transposons can also excise and
mobilize in trans a family of unlinked integrated elements called
nonreplicating Bacteroides units (NBUs). The results of a previous study
had raised the possibility that RecA plays a role in excision of
Bacteroides conjugative transposons, but this hypothesis could not be
tested in Bacteroides spp. because no RecA-deficient Bacteroides strain was
available. We report here that the excision and integration of the
Bacteroides conjugative transposons, as well as NBU1 and Tn4351, were
unaffected by the absence of RecA activity.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Construction and characterization of a Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron recA mutant: transfer of Bacteroides integrated conjugative elements is RecA independent
Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA. ajcooper@students.uiuc.edu
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