Isolation of plasmids in Legionella pneumophila and Legionella-like organisms.

Agarose gel electrophoresis was employed to screen nine strains of Legionella-like bacteria and one strain of Legionella pneumophila for the presence of extrachromosomal deoxyribonucleic acid. Cryptic plasmids with molecular weights ranging from 46.6 x 10(6) to 59.8 x 10(6) were found in three of the isolates examined.