Transformation of Mycoplasma capricolum and examination of DNA restriction modification in M. capricolum and Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides.

Plasmids pIK delta and pIK delta-erm have recently been developed as mycoplasmal cloning vectors. In this report, we demonstrate that these plasmids can replicate in Mycoplasma capricolum, a mycoplasmal species for which transformation had not previously been characterized. Both plasmids are stably maintained at a higher copy number than in their parental species, Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides. We have also examined the possibility of one or more restriction-modification systems affecting transformation frequencies in both species.