title: Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of chromosomal mercury resistance genes from a Bacillus sp.
abstract: A 7.9-kilobase (kb) chromosomal fragment was cloned from a mercury-resistant Bacillus sp. In Escherichia coli, in the presence of a second plasmid carrying functional transport genes, resistance to HgCl2 and to phenylmercury acetate (PMA) was expressed. Shortening the cloned fragment to 3.8 kb abolished resistance to PMA but not to HgCl2. In Bacillus subtilis, the 3.8-kb fragment produced mercuric reductase constitutively but did not produce resistance to HgCl2 or to PMA.
authors.affiliation: Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Waltham, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mahler
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Levinson
authors.forename: H O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Halvorson
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005796:Genes; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008190:Lyases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008627:Mercuric Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009876:Operon; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010662:Phenylmercuric Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010663:Phenylmercury Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010957:Plasmids; D011815:R Factors; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010663:Phenylmercury Compounds; D008627:Mercuric Chloride; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C021551:mercuric reductase; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D008190:Lyases; C050953:alkylmercury lyase; D008628:Mercury; D010662:Phenylmercuric Acetate