Plasmids with erythromycin resistance and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase- or beta-galactosidase-encoding gene cassettes for use in Neisseria spp.

Four new plasmids containing the ermC' (encoding a methyltransferase which confers resistance to erythromycin), xylE-ermC' (xylE, encoding catechol 2,3-dioxygenase) and lacZ-ermC' cassettes have been constructed. The 10-bp gonococcal uptake sequence has been placed downstream from ermC' to facilitate the delivery of these cassettes into pathogenic Neisseria spp. Several restriction sites have been placed to flank the cassettes to allow their excision and directional cloning. These plasmids will provide valuable tools for constructing insertional mutants and transcriptional fusions in Neisseria spp. or other bacteria.