Characterization of ampicillin resistance plasmids from Haemophilus ducreyi.

Seven strains of Haemophilus ducreyi from diverse geographic origins were analyzed for their plasmid content. All strains were multiply resistant, but only resistance to ampicillin was transferred to Escherichia coli by transformation. The H. ducreyi plasmids encoding for ampicillin resistance were 7.4, 5.7, and 3.6 megadaltons and encoded for part or all of TnA, and ampicillin transposon. The relatedness of these plasmids was examined by restriction endonuclease digestion and DNA-DNA homology with isolated DNA fragments from TnA.