PLASMIDS WITH ERYTHROMYCIN RESISTANCE AND CATECHOL 2,3-DIOXYGENASE-ENCODING OR BETA-GALACTOSIDASE-ENCODING GENE CASSETTES FOR USE IN NEISSERIA SPP

Four new plasmids containing the ermC' (encoding a methyltransferase w hich confers resistance to erythromycin), xylE-ermC' (xylE, encoding c atechol 2,3-dioxygenase) and lacZ-ermC' cassettes have been constructe d. The 10-bp gonococcal uptake sequence has been placed downstream fro m ermC' to facilitate the delivery of these cassettes into pathogenic Neisseria spp. Several restriction sites have been placed to flank the cassettes to allow their excision and directional cloning. These plas mids will provide valuable tools for constructing insertional mutants and transcriptional fusions in Neisseria spp. or other bacteria.