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Mercury resistance determined by a self-transmissible plasmid inBacillus cereus 5

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Summary

Inducible mercuric reductase activity inBacillus cereus 5 was plasmid-encoded. Plasmid analysis revealed three plasmids with molecular masses of 2.6, 5.2 and 130 MDa. A mating system permitted transfer of the resistance determinant among strains ofB. cereus andB. thuringiensis. Transfer of mercury resistance fromB. cereus 5 toB. cereus 569 andB. thuringiensis occurred during mixed culture incubation on agar surfaces. The 130-MDa plasmid (pGB130) was responsible for transfer; frequencies ranged from 10−5 to 10−4.B. cereus 569 transconjugants inheriting pGB130 were also effective donors. High transfer frequencies and the finding that cell-free filtrates of donor cultures were ineffective in mediating transfer suggested mercury-resistance transfer was not phage-mediated. Transfer was also insensitive to DNase activity. Further evidence that pGB130 DNA carried the mercury-resistance determinant was transformation ofB. cereus 569 by electroporation with pGB130 DNA isolated fromB. cereus 5 and a mercury-resistantB. cereus 569 transconjugant. Mercury-resistant transconjugants and transformants exhibited mercuric reductase activity. Plasmid pGB130 also conferred resistance to phenylmercuric acetate.

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  1. Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, NIG 2W1, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Brian H. Belliveau & Jack T. Trevors

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  1. Brian H. Belliveau
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  2. Jack T. Trevors
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Belliveau, B.H., Trevors, J.T. Mercury resistance determined by a self-transmissible plasmid inBacillus cereus 5. Biol Metals 3, 188–196 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01140578

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