Replication and expression of a bacterial--mitochondrial hybrid plasmid in the fungus Podospora anserina.

Hybrid plasmids consisting of the bacterial plasmid pBR322 and plasmid-like DNA (pl DNA) sequences from the fungus Podospora anserina are not only able to replicate in Escherichia coli but also in the fungus. This was proved by both biophysical and biological evidence involving buoyant density profiles, DNA.DNA hybridization, and restriction analysis--all confirming that pl DNA behaves as a true plasmid. During its amplification in P. anserina, the hybrid plasmid does not lose its prokaryotic coding capacity as shown after retransfer and subsequent cloning in E. coli. P. anserina is able to express both the eukaryotic and the prokaryotic genetic information of the hybrid plasmid because the occurrence of senescence and the production of beta-lactamase could be shown in experiments involving specific hybrid plasmids. In the same systems, it was possible to demonstrate that a hybrid plasmid containing, instead of pl DNA, a pl DNA homologous region of native mtDNA also could function as a true plasmid. This hybrid plasmid contained about 25% of the genetic information pl DNA, which corresponds to about 6% of the genetic information of mtDNA. Thus, the data show that hybrid plasmids may be used to shuttle genetic information between P. anserina and E. coli. hence, through the use of a mtDNA replicon, as evidenced by the pl DNA of P. anserina, another pathway in genetic engineering is established.