Bacteriophages benefit from generalized transduction
Fig 5
Efficient transduction transfers unlinked plasmid and chromosomal markers.
(A) S. aureus RN4220 after overnight infection with a ϕ11-ERM lysate propagated on a donor strain (JH1064) containing pRMC2 plasmid (CmR30) and a chromosomal marker (TetR5) inserted in the agr operon. (B) S. enterica Typhimurium LT2 after overnight infection with a phage P22 lysate propagated on a donor strain (JP14365) containing plasmid pET28a (KmR30) and a chromosomal marker (TetR20) inserted into the prpR gene. In both cases bar diagrams represent CFU ml-1 after incubation on selective plates. Grey bars represent phage infected cultures and white bars represent non-infected control cultures. From 66 to 150 transductants in each category were tested for lysogeny. Numbers above graphs indicate percentage of lysogens of total number of colonies tested.