title: Transformation-derived Neisseria gonorrhoeae plasmids with altered structure and function.
abstract: Plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid from Neisseria gonorrhoeae containing a 7.1-kilobase (kb) (4.7-megadalton) penicillinase (Pcr) plasmid transformed homogenic gonococci to penicillinase production at a low frequency. About 25% of the penicillinase-producing gonococcal transformants contained Pcr plasmids which were either larger or smaller than the 7.1 kb donor plasmid; these Pcr plasmids varied in size from 3.45 to 42 kb. Some of these altered plasmids differed from the donor plasmid in stability or in frequency of mobilization by a 36-kb (24-megadalton) conjugative plasmid. A restriction endonuclease cleavage map of the 7.1-kilobase Pcr plasmid and several of the smaller deleted plasmids was constructed. The most common size of altered Pcr plasmid was 5.1 kb (3.4 megadaltons). A Pcr plasmid isolated from a gonococcus in London, England, was identical with these 5.1-kb transformant plasmids in both size and restriction endonuclease cleavage profiles, suggesting that the 5.1-kb Pcr plasmid could have arisen from a 7.1-kb Pcr plasmid by a transformation-associated deletion in nature.
mesh_terms: D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D010405:Penicillinase / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D010405:Penicillinase; D001618:beta-Lactamases