Mechanisms essential for stable inheritance of mini-F plasmid.
The F plasmid has its own partition mechanism and ccd mechanism (coupled cell division), besides its own replication mechanism, in order to be stably inherited into daughter cells through cell division. These 3 mechanisms are independent of one another. Therefore, when a DNA segment essential and sufficient for a mechanism is jointed to other heterologous plasmids, the segment is also functional. Most of natural low copy number plasmids might also have their own replication, partition, and ccd mechanisms. These 3 mechanisms may be fundamental to ensure stable inheritance for low copy-number replicons in prokaryotes.
Hiraga
S
S
Ogura
T
T
Mori
H
H
Tanaka
M
M
D010582:Bacteriophage lambda; D002455:Cell Division; D004261:DNA Replication; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D005144:F Factor; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics
D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes