Construction of mobilizable vectors derived from plasmids RP4, pUC18 and pUC19.

Mobilizable narrow-host-range plasmids were constructed from pUC18 and pUC19 by addition of a segment of pSUP2021 bearing the basis of mobilization (bom) site and origin of transfer (oriT) of RP4. One pair of expression vectors, pARO180 and pARO190, retains the beta-lactamase (bla) gene and twelve of the 13 restriction enzyme multiple cloning sites (MCS) of pUC18/19. Another pair was created by replacing the bla gene with the gene encoding kanamycin resistance (kan) from Tn5. The molecules replicate to high copy number in Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes. They can be transferred efficiently to other Gram- bacteria from the mobilizing strain, E. coli S17-1. In non-enteric strains, the new plasmids can be used as suicide vectors in site-specific insertional mutagenesis.