Laboratory of Food and Environmental Microbiology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
PLoS One. 2013 Aug 29;8(8):e72461. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072461. eCollection 2013.
pGIAK1 is a 38-kb plasmid originating from the obligate alkaliphilic and halotolerant Bacillaceae strain JMAK1. The strain was originally isolated from the confined environments of the Antarctic Concordia station. Analysis of the pGIAK1 38,362-bp sequence revealed that, in addition to its replication region, this plasmid contains the genetic determinants for cadmium and arsenic resistances, putative methyltransferase, tyrosine recombinase, spore coat protein and potassium transport protein, as well as several hypothetical proteins. Cloning the pGIAK1 cad operon in Bacillus cereus H3081.97 and its ars operon in Bacillus subtilis 1A280 conferred to these hosts cadmium and arsenic resistances, respectively, therefore confirming their bona fide activities. The pGIAK1 replicon region was also shown to be functional in Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, but was only stably maintained in B. subtilis. Finally, using an Escherichia coli - B. thuringiensis shuttle BAC vector, pGIAK1 was shown to display conjugative properties since it was able to transfer the BAC plasmid among B. thuringiensis strains.
pGIAK1 是一种源自严格嗜碱和耐盐芽孢杆菌菌株 JMAK1 的 38-kb 质粒。该菌株最初是从南极康科迪亚站的封闭环境中分离出来的。对 pGIAK1 38362bp 序列的分析表明，除了其复制区域外，该质粒还包含镉和砷抗性的遗传决定因素、假定的甲基转移酶、酪氨酸重组酶、孢子外壳蛋白和钾转运蛋白，以及几个假定的蛋白质。将 pGIAK1 的 cad 操纵子在蜡状芽孢杆菌 H3081.97 中克隆，ars 操纵子在枯草芽孢杆菌 1A280 中克隆，分别赋予这些宿主对镉和砷的抗性，从而证实了它们的真实活性。pGIAK1 的复制子区域在苏云金芽孢杆菌、枯草芽孢杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌中也具有功能，但仅在枯草芽孢杆菌中稳定维持。最后，使用大肠杆菌-苏云金芽孢杆菌穿梭 BAC 载体，pGIAK1 显示出可转移性，因为它能够在苏云金芽孢杆菌菌株之间转移 BAC 质粒。
