Transforamtion of twitching strains of Streptococcus sanguis.
Ninety-five strains of S. sanguis, 90 of which were twitching, were screened for competence in transformation with DNA from the "Challis" strain. Seventy-two strains, 68 of sero-group H and 4 of the provisional group 10043, were competent. Fourteen of the competent strains and all strains which appeared to be incompetent were tested with DNA from 3 other strains. The 14 competent strains were transformed by all the 3 DNAs. One of the apparently incompetent strains was transformed by autologous DNA only. Among 8 reference strains (including ATCC 10577, Type II of Washburn et al.) 5 were competent. Three of these did not show spreading or twitching. Among 16 non-spreading strains of alphahaemolytic streptococci which did not possess either the H or the 10043 group antigen, only one showed competence. The results indicate that twitching mobility is not a prerequisite for competence.
D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism; D008722:Methods; D013298:Streptococcus sanguis / Q000378:metabolism; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases