Construction and characterization of a chimeric plasmid composed of DNA Pfrom Escherichia coli and Drosophila melanogaster.

A chimeric plasmid has been constructed in vitro from colicin E1 factor (Col E1), nontransmissible R-factor RSF-1010, and Drosophila melanogaster DNAs by the sequential action of Escherichia coli endonuclease RI(Eco RI) and T4 phage DNA ligase. The chimeric plasmid was assembled in two stages--first, a composite plasmid consisting of Col E1 and RSF 1010 was constructed, followed by partial digestion of the composite with Eco RI (in order to open one of the susceptible cleavage sites) and ligation with an Eco RI-digested D. melanogaster DNA preparation. The chimeric plasmid was selected and amplified in vivo by sequential transformation of E. COLI C with the ligated mixture, selection of transformants in medium containing streptomycin plus colicin E1, followed by amplification in the presence of chloramphenicol and purification of the extracted plasmid by dye-buoyant density gradient centrifugation in ethidium bromide-CsCl solution. Treatment of the chimeric plasmid with Eco RI yields three fragments with mobilities corresponding to the linear forms of the constituents--COL E1, mol wt 4.2 times 106, RSF 1010, mol wt 5.5 times 106 and D. melanogaster DNA, mol wt 4.0 times 106. The buoyant densities of the three constituents are respectively 1.706, 1.719, and 1.697 g/cm3, while the buoyant density of the composite factor is 1.712 and that of the chimeric plasmid is 1.705. Serratia marscesens endonuclease R (Sma) which introduces a single cut in Col E1, but not in RSF 1010, converts the chimeric plasmid to a single linear molecule (mol wt 13.7 times 106) and sequential digestion with both Sma and Hin III yields two distinct fragments, mol wt 3.7 and 10.0 times 10.6, respectively; this implies that the two sites are unique and occur at distinctly different positions. Sequential digestion with both Hin III and Eco RI reveals that the Hin III cut is in the D. melanogaster segment; neither Col E1 nor RSF 1010 contain sites susceptible to digestion with Hin III. In the presence of chloramphenicol, the chimeric plasmid continues toreplicate for 9 hr while bacterial chromosomal DNA replicates at a much slower rate. As in the case of the composite plasmid, continued synthesis is the presence of chloramphenicol suggests that the replicator of Col E1 is functional in the chimeric plasmid as well. Examination of the chimeric plasmid by partial denaturation mapping permits identification of its constituents, each of which presents a characteristic profile. The D. melanogaster segment reveals a wealth of detail at the molecular level pertaining to the distribution of AT-rich regions.