A single-step transconjugation system for the introduction of unmarked deletions into Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 7 using a sucrose sensitivity marker.

Research on the porcine respiratory tract pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae requires the availability of improved genetic tools. Therefore, using the sacB gene of Bacillus subtilis, we developed a sucrose-based counterselection system that allows rapid curing of an Escherichia coli-A. pleuropneumoniae shuttle vector as well as the introduction of unmarked mutations into the A. pleuropneumoniae chromosome. A cassette containing the Tn903 kanamycin resistance determinant (km(r)) and the sacB gene expressed from the A. pleuropneumoniae omlA promoter was introduced by homologous recombination into the ureC gene of A. pleuropneumoniae. The resultant stable plasmid cointegrates were kanamycin-resistant, sucrose-sensitive, and urease-positive. A simple counterselection on sucrose-containing agar plates without an additional transconjugation step allowed the efficient isolation of urease-negative A. pleuropneumoniae mutants that had lost the km(r)-sacB cassette.