title: Cloning and sequence analysis of a plasmid replicon from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris FG2.
abstract: A replication region from one of the Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris FG2 plasmids was isolated by cloning of a 4.8-kb XbaI fragment into a replication probe vector and transformation into L. lactis LM0230. A 1.8-kb region within this fragment was sequenced and confirmed by PCR subcloning to encode a functional replicon in LM0230. The replicon consists of an open reading frame encoding a putative replication protein (Rep) of 386 amino acids and a non-coding region (ori) which features several structural motifs typical of other known replication origins, including a 22-bp iteron sequence tandemly repeated three and a half times, a 10-bp direct repeat and two sets of inverted repeats. The ori region could drive replication of its plasmid when supplied with the replication region in-trans. The lack of detectable single-stranded DNA during replication and the existence of extensive homology with other known lactococcal theta replicons strongly suggest that this region encodes a theta-replicating mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Food Industry Innovation, Department of Biotechnology, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Chun-Qiang
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kangmin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Noel W.
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Dunn