Chair of Genetics, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Riia Street 23, Tartu 51010, Estonia.
Genes (Basel). 2011 Nov 4;2(4):853-68. doi: 10.3390/genes2040853.
Plasmids are mobile genetic elements that provide their hosts with many beneficial traits including in some cases the ability to degrade different aromatic compounds. To fulfill the knowledge gap regarding catabolic plasmids of the Baltic Sea water, a total of 209 biodegrading bacterial strains were isolated and screened for the presence of these mobile genetic elements. We found that both large and small plasmids are common in the cultivable Baltic Sea bacterioplankton and are particularly prevalent among bacterial genera Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter. Out of 61 plasmid-containing strains (29% of all isolates), 34 strains were found to carry large plasmids, which could be associated with the biodegradative capabilities of the host bacterial strains. Focusing on the diversity of IncP-9 plasmids, self-transmissible m-toluate (TOL) and salicylate (SAL) plasmids were detected. Sequencing the repA gene of IncP-9 carrying isolates revealed a high diversity within IncP-9 plasmid family, as well as extended the assumed bacterial host species range of the IncP-9 representatives. This study is the first insight into the genetic pool of the IncP-9 catabolic plasmids in the Baltic Sea bacterioplankton.
质粒是一种可移动的遗传元件，为其宿主提供了许多有益的特性，包括在某些情况下降解不同芳香族化合物的能力。为了填补波罗的海海水代谢质粒的知识空白，共分离和筛选了 209 株可生物降解的细菌菌株，以检测这些可移动的遗传元件的存在。我们发现，大质粒和小质粒在可培养的波罗的海浮游细菌中很常见，并且在假单胞菌属和不动杆菌属等细菌属中尤为普遍。在 61 株含有质粒的菌株（所有分离株的 29%）中，发现 34 株携带大质粒，这可能与宿主细菌菌株的生物降解能力有关。关注 IncP-9 质粒的多样性，检测到了可自我转移的间甲苯酸盐（TOL）和水杨酸盐（SAL）质粒。对携带 IncP-9 的分离株的 repA 基因进行测序，揭示了 IncP-9 质粒家族内的高度多样性，并扩展了 IncP-9 代表的假定细菌宿主物种范围。这项研究首次深入了解了波罗的海浮游细菌中 IncP-9 代谢质粒的遗传库。
