抄録
As one of the mechanisms for horizontal gene transfer among microorganisms in marine environments, the production and significance of Phage-like particles (PLPs) were investigated using Ubiquinone 10 (Q10) possessing marine bacteria. 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) utilization was found as a characteristic feature of marine bacteria examined, and was employed as a marker for gene transfer. Their Plasmid-like elements (PLEs) transformed Escherichia coli AB1157 with the efficiency of 106-107CFU/μgDNA. The PLPs produced from Agrobacterium kieliense and Flavobacterium sp. 11604 showed 70-95% bactericidal activity on E. coli. At the same time, PLPs from A. kieliense transferred 2, 4-D utilization with efficiency of ca. 0.02% and those from F. sp. 11604 cured four amino acid requirements with efficiency of ca. 0.1% for each amino acid. The PLP production was generally shared by the bacteria investigated. These results indicate that the PLPs produced by certain marine bacteria may be an important new element for non-specific generalized transduction in the environment.
