Identification of SCP2165, a new SCP2-derived plasmid of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

Aims: Characterization of SCP2 , a plasmid identified in the Gram-positive bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Methods and Results: Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of mycelia of a S. coelicolor strain embedded in low melting agarose revealed the presence of a plasmid. Restriction enzyme mapping and sequence analysis of a 2.1 kb fragment revealed that this plasmid could be SCP2. SCP2 and its spontaneous derivative SCP2* are self-transmissible plasmids and have chromosome mobilizing ability (c.m.a.). SCP2* has a c. 1000-fold increased c.m.a. compared with SCP2. Interestingly the plasmid, named SCP2165, shows a c.m.a. from 5 × 10-2 to 1 × 10-1 which is 50-100-fold higher than that described for crosses involving SCP2*. Conclusions: SCP2165 is a SCP2 derivative plasmid with the highest c.m.a. so far described for SCP2 derivative plasmids. PFGE, under conditions we used, seems to be a fast way to identify large circular plasmids in Streptomyces strains. Significance and Impact of the Study: Further knowledge of the SCP2 family may allow the construction of improved SCP2-derived cloning vectors. SCP2165 could be a potential tool for conjugational transfer of gene clusters between different Streptomyces species