Genetic transfer in Desulfovibrio desulfuricans.

An apparently defective bacteriophage capable of mediating transduction has been identified in culture filtrates of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (American Type Culture Collection 27774). Phage-mediated intraspecies transfer of antibiotic resistance markers occurs with a frequency of 10(-5) to 10(-6) per recipient cell. The vector contains linear fragments of double-stranded DNA of about 13.5 kilobase pairs, which appear to be random pieces of bacterial DNA. As yet, neither induction nor plaque formation has been observed. To our knowledge, a system of genetic exchange has not been described before for a member of the sulfate-reducing bacteria.