Nucleic Acids Research, 1984, Vol. 12, No. 15 6307-6323
© 1984
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY |
Cloning the gyrA gene of Bacillus subtilis
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, School of Medicine Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed
Received April 19, 1984. Revised July 10, 1984. Accepted July 10, 1984.
we have isolated an eight kilobase fragment of Bacillus subtilis DNA by specific integration and excision of a plasmid containing a sequence adjacent to ribosomal operon rrn O. The genetic locus of the cloned fragment was verified by linkage of the integrated vector to nearby genetic markers using both transduction and transformation. Functional gyrA activity encoded by this fragment complements E. coli gyrA mutants. Recombination between the Bacillus sequences and the E. coli chromosome did not occur. The Bacillus wild type gyrA gene, which confers sensitivity to nalidixic acid, is dominant in E. coli as is the E. coli gene. The cloned DNA precisely defines the physical location of the gyrA mutation on the B. subtilis chromosome. Since an analogous fragment from a nalidixic acid resistant strain has also been isolated, and shown to transform B. subtilis to nalidixic acid resistance, both alleles have been cloned.