A new minimal replicon of Bacillus anthracis plasmid pXO1.

ABSTRACT: An 8,883-bp mini-pXO1 plasmid containing a replicon from Bacillus anthracis pXO1 (181.6 kb) was identified by making large deletions in the original plasmid using a newly developed Cre-loxP system. Portions of the truncated mini-pXO1 were cloned into an Escherichia coli vector unable to replicate in B. anthracis. A 5.95-kb region encompassing three putative genes was identified as the minimal pXO1 fragment required for replication of the resulting recombinant shuttle plasmid (named pMR) in B. anthracis. Deletion analysis showed that the only genes essential for replication were the pXO1-14 and pXO1-16 genes, which are transcribed in opposite directions and encode predicted proteins of 66.5 and 67.1 kDa, respectively. The ORF14 protein contains a helix-turn-helix motif, while the ORF16 upst

SUBMITTER: Pomerantsev AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2725576 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature