Identification and characterization of an Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pAD1-encoded stability determinant which produces two small RNA molecules necessary for its function.

A determinant, designated par, essential for stable maintenance for an autonomously replicating fragment of the Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pAD1, was identified by transposon mutagenesis, and its DNA sequence was determined. The position of flanking transposon inserts with no effect on stability indicates that par is encoded on no more than approximately 720 bp of DNA. This region contains no large open reading frames (> 62 amino acids) but does contain a number of direct and inverted repeats and GC- and AT-rich boxes. Disruption of these elements by transposon insertion, or deletion of the entire cluster of elements, resulted in a loss of plasmid stability but did not affect replication or copy number in E. faecalis. Characterization of selected mutants suggested that some manipulations of par may interfere with essential plasmid replication functions and/or be lethal to the host cell. Northern blot analysis revealed that two small RNA molecules of approximately 250 and 145 nucleotides homologous to par are produced by cells containing the complete pAD1 replicon. Mutations affecting par that resulted in a decrease in plasmid stability also resulted in changes in the pattern of production of the par RNAs, suggesting that these RNAs are important for par function.