pUCL287 is a cryptic plasmid of Tetragenococcus halophila (formerly Pediococcus halophilus) ATCC33315 of relatively small size (8.7 kb). Its minimal replicon was located on a 1235 bp MamI-EcoRI fragment. This minimal replicon contains a non-translated region, followed by a gene encoding a putative 311 amino acid protein. Deletion experiments showed that the non-translated region corresponds to the replication origin. Determination of the replication mode was carried out in Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2 harboring pUCL287 minimal replicon. The replicating intermediates detected revealed that pUCL287 minimal replicon follows a bidirectional theta replicating mode.