A BREVIBACTERIUM LINENS PRBL1 REPLICON FUNCTIONAL IN CORYNEBACTERIUM-GLUTAMICUM

Brevibacterium linens RBL strain cryptic plasmid pRBL1 (8.0 kb) is des cribed. a region involved in pRBL1 autonomous replication in Corynebac terium glutamicum was identified by insertion and deletion mapping and partially sequenced. This region encodes for a hypothetical 310-amino acid (aa) protein closely related to the replicases of plasmids pXZ10 142 (C. glutamicum) and pAL5000 (Mycobacterium fortuitum). The 310-aa protein also shows significant homology to proteins of pColE5-099 (Shi gella sonnei) and pJD1 (Neisseria gonorrhoea). At least one of these p roteins, the Rep protein of pColE5-099, is known to be involved in the ta replication. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.