Summary
The incompatibility between F plasmids is transiently suppressed in Escherichia coli strain CSH54. As a result this strain is able to maintain two F′ factors or an F′ factor and a mini-F plasmid for considerably longer periods than normal strains. When selective pressure for two markers carried by two separate F′s (or an F′ and mini-F) is imposed on normal strains, the two plasmids tend to form a cointegrate structure which can be detected genetically by the joint transfer of both the markers upon mating. This does not happen in CSH54; instead, the two plasmids are maintained and transferred independently. Physical evidence for the maintenance of an F′ and a mini-F plasmid is provided by agarose gel electrophoresis.
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Warrier, R., Jayaraman, R. Transient suppression of F-plasmid incompatibility in a strain of Escherichia coli . Molec Gen Genet 204, 463–468 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331025
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331025