Bacterial conjugative transfer: visualization of successful mating pairs and plasmid establishment in live Escherichia coli.

We used the LacO/GFP-LacI system to label and visualize the IncP beta plasmid R751 fluorescently during conjugative transfer between live donor and recipient bacteria. Comparisons of R751 in conjugative and non-conjugative conditions have allowed us to identify key localizations and movements associated with the initiation of conjugative transfer in the donor and the establishment of R751 in the recipient. A survey of successful mating pairs demonstrates that close physical contact between donor and recipient bacteria is required for DNA transfer and that regions of intimate contact can occur at any location on the donor or recipient cell membrane. The transferred DNA is positioned at the characteristic centre or quarter-cell position after conversion to a double-stranded molecule in the recipient cell. Initial duplication of plasmids often results in an asymmetric distribution of plasmid foci. Symmetric localization (either at centre or at 1/4 and 3/4 cell lengths) occurs only after a significant lag, presumably reflecting the time required to synthesize the plasmid-encoded partitioning proteins.