Plasmid transfer from Escherichia coli to coryneform bacteria by conjugation.

The mobilizable shuttle plasmids pXZ911, pBZ51, pBZ52, carrying the Mob site and replication origin of the Corynebacteria plasmid pXZ10145, were constructed. In E. coli S17-1, they can be transferred to coryneform bacteria C. glutamicum ATCC13032, C. glutamicum ATCC21543, C. pekinense B3, C. pekinense AS1.299, C. herculis B43, B. flavum ATCC14067 by conjugation and the transfer frequencies are 9 x 10(-5), 1 x 10(-4), 8.5 x 10(-5), 2.3 x 10(-4), 6 x 10(-4), 2.9 x 10(-5), respectively. This plasmid transfer system, which is convenient and highly effective, should greatly facilitate the basic research and optimization of amino acid genetic engineering in coryneform bacteria and related species.