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Fate in soil of a recombinant plasmid carrying aDrosophila gene

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Abstract

A recombinant plasmid (C357; 3.5 Mdal) containing heterologous DNA (pBR322 [2.6 Mdal] with cDNA for an egg yolk protein fromDrosophila grimshawi) inEscherichia coli strain HB101 survived in and was recovered on selective media from sterile and nonsterile soil during 27 days at frequencies similar to those of theE. coli(pBR322) system. In sterile saline, the numbers of all cells decreased during 34 days, but the numbers of the plasmidless host declined less. There was no selective loss of the heterologous DNA in either soil or saline, as determined by colony hybridization with a32P-labeled DNA probe for the cDNA, but the HB101(C357) appeared to be less able than HB101(pBR322) to cope with conditions of starvation. These results suggested that nonessential eucaryotic DNA inserted into plasmid DNA has little effect on the survival in soil or saline of the bacterial host and the maintenance of the vector.

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Author notes

  1. Monica A. Devanas

    Present address: Biological Science Department, Rutgers University, 08903, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Microbial Ecology, Department of Biology, New York University, 1009 Main Building, 10003, New York, New York, USA

    Monica A. Devanas &  Guenther Stotzky

Authors
  1. Monica A. Devanas
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  2. Guenther Stotzky
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Devanas, M.A., Stotzky, G. Fate in soil of a recombinant plasmid carrying aDrosophila gene. Current Microbiology 13, 279–283 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568653

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