Characterization of a Cryptic Rolling-Circle Replication Plasmid pMK8 from Enterococcus durans 1-8

Curr Microbiol. 2018 Sep;75(9):1198-1205. doi: 10.1007/s00284-018-1509-x. Epub 2018 May 17.

Abstract

A novel cryptic plasmid from Enterococcus durans 1-8, designated as pMK8, was sequenced and analyzed in this study. It consists of 3337 bp with a G + C content of 33.11%. Sequence analysis of pMK8 revealed three putative open reading frames (ORFs). Based on homology, two of them were identified as genes encoding replication initiation (RepC) and mobilization (Mob) protein, respectively. Sequence analysis revealed a pT181 family double-strand origin (dso) and a putative single-strand origin (sso) located upstream of the repC gene. Sequence homology analysis indicated that the sso belongs to the ssoW family. Southern hybridization confirmed the presence of single-strand DNA (ssDNA) intermediates, suggesting that pMK8 replicates via the RCR mechanism. Furthermore, the relative copy number of pMK8 was estimated by real-time PCR to be 175 ± 14 copies in each cell.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Base Composition
  • Base Sequence
  • DNA Replication / genetics*
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • DNA, Circular / genetics*
  • DNA, Single-Stranded / genetics
  • Enterococcus / genetics*
  • Enterococcus / isolation & purification
  • Gene Dosage / genetics
  • Milk / microbiology
  • Open Reading Frames
  • Plasmids / genetics*
  • Protein Conformation
  • Replication Origin / genetics
  • Sequence Homology

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • DNA, Circular
  • DNA, Single-Stranded