Transduction by phiBB-1, a bacteriophage of Borrelia burgdorferi.
We previously described a bacteriophage of the Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi designated phiBB-1. This phage packages the host complement of the 32-kb circular plasmids (cp32s), a group of homologous molecules found throughout the genus Borrelia. To demonstrate the ability of phiBB-1 to package and transduce DNA, a kanamycin resistance cassette was inserted into a cloned fragment of phage DNA, and the resulting construct was transformed into B. burgdorferi CA-11.2A cells. The kan cassette recombined into a resident cp32 and was stably maintained. The cp32 containing the kan cassette was packaged by phiBB-1 released from this B. burgdorferi strain. phiBB-1 has been used to transduce this antibiotic resistance marker into naive CA-11.2A cells, as well as two other strains of B. burgdorferi. This is the first direct evidence of a mechanism for lateral gene transfer in B. burgdorferi.
Eggers
C H
CH
Division of Biological Sciences, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA.
Kimmel
B J
BJ
Bono
J L
JL
Elias
A F
AF
Rosa
P
P
Samuels
D S
DS
D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D007613:Kanamycin Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D014161:Transduction, Genetic; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004279:DNA, Viral