Narita Masaru, Matsui Kazuaki, Huang Chieh-Chen, Kawabata Zen'ichiro, Endo Ginro
Tohoku Gakuin University, Tagajo, Japan.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2004 Apr 1;48(1):47-55. doi: 10.1016/j.femsec.2003.12.011.
Fifty-six mercury-resistant (Hg(R)) Bacillus strains were isolated from natural environments at various sites of the world. Southern hybridisation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis showed that 21 of the 56 isolates have closely related or identical mer operons to that of Bacillus megaterium MB1. These 21 isolates displayed a broad-spectrum mercury resistance and volatilised Hg(0). PCR amplification with a single primer and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis showed that these 21 isolates had TnMERI1-like class II transposons. These transposons can be classified into Tn5084, Tn5085, or TnMERI1. From these results, at least three types of class II mercury resistance transposons exist in Hg(R)Bacillus and these transposons may contribute the worldwide distribution and horizontal dissemination of the mer operons among Bacillus strains in natural environments.
从世界不同地点的自然环境中分离出了56株耐汞（Hg(R)）芽孢杆菌菌株。Southern杂交和聚合酶链反应（PCR）分析表明，56株分离株中有21株具有与巨大芽孢杆菌MB1密切相关或相同的汞操纵子。这21株分离株表现出广谱耐汞性并挥发Hg(0)。用单一引物进行PCR扩增和限制性片段长度多态性分析表明，这21株分离株具有TnMERI1样II类转座子。这些转座子可分为Tn5084、Tn5085或TnMERI1。根据这些结果，耐汞芽孢杆菌中至少存在三种类型的II类耐汞转座子，并且这些转座子可能有助于汞操纵子在自然环境中芽孢杆菌菌株间的全球分布和水平传播。
