title: Giant linear plasmids in Streptomyces: a treasure trove of antibiotic biosynthetic clusters.
abstract: Many giant linear plasmids have been isolated from Streptomyces by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and some of them were found to carry an antibiotic biosynthetic cluster(s); SCP1 carries biosynthetic genes for methylenomycin, pSLA2-L for lankacidin and lankamycin, and pKSL for lasalocid and echinomycin. Accumulated data suggest that giant linear plasmids have played critical roles in genome evolution and horizontal transfer of secondary metabolism. In this review, I summarize typical examples of giant linear plasmids whose involvement in antibiotic production has been studied in some detail, emphasizing their finding processes and interaction with the host chromosomes. A hypothesis on horizontal transfer of secondary metabolism involving giant linear plasmids is proposed at the end.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan. kinashi@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Haruyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kinashi
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005810:Multigene Family; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013302:Streptomyces / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents