Suppression of the formation of polygenotypic recombinant colonies by a maf mutation in mating with HfrH

Abstract

W3011, a Cavalli-type Hfr (HfrC), was mated with F-KY9474, maf-1, which cannot maintain F or F-like plasmids, and with F-OU9474, Maf+, a spontaneous revertant of KY9474. The recombinant colonies obtained were 100% monogenotypic from KY9474 and 90% monogenotypic from OU9474. On the other hand, in matings with OU11, a Hayes-type Hfr (HfrH), and these two F- strains, recombinant colonies derived from KY9474 showed only 22% polygenotypic recombinant colonies; whereas, those derived from OU9474 showed a high production rate (57%) of polygenotypic recombinant colonies. Among the polygenotypic recombinant colonies derived from KY9474 maf-1, 50% contained three or more recombinant types. These were probably derived from a small fraction of Maf+ revertants in the KY9474 population, as suggested by the results of mating this strain with M80, an F' strain that contains an amber mutation in traH. These results support the hypothesis that the donor DNA fragments derived from an HfrH can undergo a limited replication in the recipient to produce polygenotypic recombinant colonies, whereas those derived from HfrC cannot.