Conjugative plasmid transfer is an important mechanism for diversifying prokaryotic genomes and disseminating antibiotic resistance. Relaxases are conjugative plasmid-encoded proteins essential for ...

Plasmids, small circular DNA molecules found in bacteria, may contain antibiotic-resistance genes and have the ability to replicate independently. Bacteria can transfer these plasmids to one another, ...

A hybrid bacteriophage, P420, was constructed in vitro; it contains part of bacteriophage P4 and a 3.6-kilobase derivative of plasmid ColE1. In Escherichia coli, the plasmid-phage hybrid can exist as ...