NEW MODE OF GENETIC TRANSFER IN STREPTOCCUS FAECALIS VAR. LIQUEFACIENS

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Abstract
Raycroft, Ruth E. (The Pennsylvania State University, University Park), and L. N. Zimmerman. New mode of genetic transfer in Streptococcus faecalis var. liquefaciens. J. Bacteriol. 87:799–801. 1964.—When chloramphenicol-resistant mutants are grown in mixed culture with the sensitive wild type of Streptococcus faecalis var. liquefaciens 31, a transfer of chloramphenicol resistance occurs. (The marker is stable through at least five transfers.) The transfer mechanism is not inhibited by deoxyribonuclease, nor is it phage-mediated; genetic transfer is apparently dependent upon cell contact. Although kinetic studies have yet to be completed, preliminary data indicate a high efficiency (2.2 per donor cell in some experiments) of transmission. Two levels of drug resistance, 7 and 50 μg, were transferred; in each case, recipient cells expressed the donor's degree of resistance.