Conjugative plasmid mediated inducible nickel resistance in Hafnia alvei 5-5 Authors Jeong Eun Park Department of Biology, Research Institute for Basic Science, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea Kho Eun Young Department of Biology, Research Institute for Basic Science, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea Hans-Günter Schlegel Institut für Mikrobiologie, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany Ho Gun Rhie Department of Biology, Research Institute for Basic Science, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea Ho Sa Lee Department of Biology, Research Institute for Basic Science, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea Keywords: transconjugant, nickel-resistant bacteria, inducible nickel resistance, TnphoA´-1 insertion mutagenesis Abstract Hafnia alvei 5-5, isolated from a soil-litter mixture underneath the canopy of the nickel-hyperaccumulating tree Sebertia acuminata (Sapotaceae) in New Caledonia, was found to be resistant to 30 mM Ni2+ or 2 mM Co2+. The 70-kb plasmid, pEJH 501, was transferred by conjugation to Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, and Klebsiella oxytoca. Transconjugant strains expressed inducible nickel resistance to between 5 and 17 mM Ni2+, and cobalt resistance to 2 mM Co2+. A 4.8-kb Sal–EcoRI fragment containing the nickel resistance determinant was subcloned, and the hybrid plasmid was found to confer a moderate level of resistance to nickel (7 mM Ni2+) even to E. coli. The expression of nickel resistance was inducible by exposure to nickel chloride at a concentration as low as 0.5 mM Ni2+. By random TnphoA´-1 insertion mutagenesis, the fragment was shown to have structural genes as well as regulatory regions for nickel resistance. Southern hybridization studies showed that the nickel-resistance determinant from pEJH501 of H. alvei 5-5 was homologous to that of pTOM9 from Alcaligenes xylosoxydans 31A. Downloads PDF Published 2010-03-09 Issue Vol. 6 No. 1 (2003) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
