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The F factor of Escherichia coli carries a locus of stable plasmid inheritance stm, similar to the parB locus of plasmid RI

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Summary

We found that a 1.4 kb fragment of the F factor of Escherichia coli (coordinates 62.8–64.2) considerably increased the stable inheritance of different plasmids which carried it. The fragment has a 589 bp DNA sequence (coordinates 63.3–63.9) with extensive homology to the parB locus of plasmid RI and, probably like the parB region, ensures the presence of plasmids in bacterial populations by killing those cells which have lost the plasmid.

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Communicated by R. Devoret

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Golub, E.T., Panzer, H.A. The F factor of Escherichia coli carries a locus of stable plasmid inheritance stm, similar to the parB locus of plasmid RI. Mol Gen Genet 214, 353–357 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337735

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337735

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