• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.454-460
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• 1989

Antibiotics resistance genes both in natural bacterial isolates and the genetically cloned bacteria were comparatively studied for their transfer frequencies by the method of conjugation in several different water environments. The Kmr genes in both kinds of bacteria were transferred more frequently in autoclaved wastewater of laboratory environment than in natural river water, but in Luria Bertani (LB) broth medium under the laboratory conditions the transfer frequences of the genes were much higher than in the autoclaved wastewater. The transfer frequencies at 2$0^{\circ}C$ and 3$0^{\circ}C$ were not much different in any water environments. The Km$^{${\gamma}$}$ genes of the genetically cloned bacteria and the natural isolates were transferred at the same frequency both in natural river water and in the autoclaved wastewater of laboratory environment, but in LB broth under laboratory conditions the transfer frequencies were lowered by 10$^{-3}$ to 10$^{-4}$ in the genetically cloned cells than the natural isolates. When donors of different cloned cells were conjugated with recipient of a natural isolates, the Km$^{${\gamma}$}$ genes of different donor cells were transferred at the about same frequency, but the same donor of the cloned cell were conjugated with recipients of different natural isolates, the transfer of Km$^{${\gamma}$}$ gene of the cloned cell showed some differences of 101 to 102 in frequency.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.210-218
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• 1990

The survival and transfer of chromosomal genes coding for the synthesis of amino acids (threonine, tryptophan, histidine, leucine, methionine) and of plasmid-borne genes coding for resistance to antibiotics (chloramphenicol, kanamycin, erythromycin) by transformation in sterile and nonsterile soil (the soil was amended to 12% vol/vol with the clay mineral, montmorillonite) was studied. In pure culture, the numbers of vegetative cells of the Bacillus subtilis strains decreased by 1 to 1.5 orders of magnitude within one week, but spores of each strain showed lesser decreases. In sterile soil, the populations of vegetative cells and spores decreased by 1.5 to 3 orders of magnitude within 2 to 4 days and then showed little additional decreased. The transformation frequencies (number of transformants/numbers of donors and recipients) of individual amino acid-genes invitro ranged from $1.3{\pm}0.6{\times}10^{-6}$ to $6.0{\pm}2.36{\times}10^{-6}$, of two amino acid-genes from $8.5{\pm}0.7{\times}10^{-8}$ to $3.1{\pm}0.6{\times}10^{-7}$, and of the antibiotic-resistance genes from $1.5{\pm} 0.2{\itmes} 10^{-7}$ to $1.4{\pm} 0.4{\times} 10^{-5}$ . In sterile soil, the frequencies of transfer of individual amino acid-genes ranged from $2.0{\times} 10^{-7}$ to $2.0{\times} 10^{-5}$ and of the antibiotic-resistance genes from $2.0{\times} 10^{-7}$ to $9.4{\pm} 4.7{\times} 10^{-6}$. The transfer of two amino acid-genes in sterile soil was detected at a frequency of $2.0{\times} 10^{-6}$ to $4.5{\times} 10^{-6}$, but only in three instances. The transformation frequencies of antibiotic-resistance genes in nonsterile soil were essentially similar to those in sterile soil. However, to detect transformants in nonsterile soil, higher concentrations of antibiotics were needed, as the result of the large numbers of indigenous soil bacteria resistant to the concentration of antibiotics used in the sterile soil and in vitro studies. The results of these studies show that genes can be transferred by transformation in soil and that this mechanism of transfer must be considered in risk assessment of the release of genetically engineered microorganisms to the environment.