title: Transfer of plasmids pBR322 and pBR325 in wastewater from laboratory strains of Escherichia coli to bacteria indigenous to the waste disposal system.
abstract: Laboratory strains of Escherichia coli containing plasmid pBR325 (or pBR322) were coincubated with a mobilizer strain of E. coli (containing the conjugative plasmid R100-1) and a recipient strain of bacteria. Bacterial strains isolated from raw wastewater or a plasmid-free E. coli laboratory strain served as recipients. Transfer of the pBR plasmid into the recipient strain occurred during a 25-h coincubation in either L broth or sterilized wastewater; transfer frequencies were several orders of magnitude lower in wastewater. After the coincubation, recipients exhibited both plasmid-encoded phenotypic characteristics and an altered plasmid profile, as shown by agarose gel electrophoresis of purified plasmid DNA.
mesh_terms: D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids; D011815:R Factors; D012722:Sewage; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage