Properties of RP4, an R factor which originated in Pseudomonas aeruginosa S8.

RP4, an R factor derived from Pseudomonas aeruginosa S8 and specifying resistance to carbenicillin, neomycin, kanamycin, and tetracycline, could be isolated as an extrachromosomal satellite of covalently closed circular DNA (CCC-DNA) of molecular weight about 62 million and of buoyant density 1.719 g/cm(3) (60% guanine plus cytosine). When RP4 was compared by hybridization with RP1, an R factor originating in another strain of P. aeruginosa, it was shown that RP4 contains most, if not all, of the base sequences of RP1, and also additional sequences not found in RP1.