Recombination and complementation between R factors inEscherichia coliK 12

Abstract

SUMMARYRecombination between chloramphenicol-sensitive (Cms) mutants of Rl, and R100, has been demonstrated inEscherichia coliK12rec+; it occurs at reduced frequency inrecBandrecC, and is not detectable inreeA, indicating that R factor recombination depends on host functions. Some mutants of R1 also recombine with an R100 mutant in a similar way.recAcells carrying an R1 and an R100 Cmsmutant (hetero-R state) have a low level of chloramphenicol-resistance, and form a chloramphenicol acetyl transferase that has lower specific activity than enzyme from hosts carrying wild-type or recombinant factors. These results suggest the occurrence of interallelic complementation between mutant R factors.