Abstract.
Five strains of Enterobacter cloacae isolated from several species of plants and insects were able to grow in the guts of silkworm larvae. A much larger population of Ent. cloacae strains was detected in the insect guts and feces collected 3 and 6 days than in samples collected 1 day after feeding artificial diets contaminating these bacteria. Furthermore, insect-origin strains of Ent. cloacae were mated with a donor strain, epiphytic Erwinia herbicola, harboring RSF1010 and pBPW1::Tn7 plasmids in the insect guts by introducing these bacteria through separate artificial diets administered at different times. A number of transconjugants, Ent. cloacae strains which had acquired RSF1010 plasmid, were detected from guts and fecal samples at transfer frequencies of 10−2 to 10−3 per recipient. Thus, gene transfer between epiphytic Er. herbicola and insect-resident Ent. cloacae strains in the insect guts was confirmed. These findings may provide significant information about the role of ′′in insecta mating'' in the evolution of these bacteria.
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Received: 16 June 1998 / Accepted: 7 July 1998
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Watanabe, K., Sato, M. Plasmid-Mediated Gene Transfer Between Insect-Resident Bacteria, Enterobacter cloacae, and Plant-Epiphytic Bacteria, Erwinia herbicola, in Guts of Silkworm Larvae. Curr Microbiol 37, 352–355 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002849900391
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002849900391