Mobilization of broad host range plasmid from Pseudomonas putida to established biofilm of Bacillus azotoformans. II....

A strain of Pseudomonas putida that harbors plasmids RK2 and pDLB101 was exposed to a pure culture biofilm of Bacillus azotoformans grown in a rotating annular reactor. Transfer of the RK2 mobilizable pDLB101 plasmid to B. azotoformans was monitored over a 4-day period. Experimental results demonstrated that the broad host range, RSF1010 derivative pDLB101 was transferred to and expressed by B. azotoformans. In the companion article to this work, the rate of plasmid transfer was quantified as a function of the limiting nutrient, succinate, and as a function of the mechanism of transfer. A biofilm process simulation program (AQUASIM) was modified to analyze resultant experimental data. Although the AQUASIM package was not designed to simulate or predict genetic events in biofilms, modification of the rate process dynamics allowed successful modeling of plasmid transfer. For the narrow range of substrate concentrations used in these experiments, nutrient level had only a slight effect on the rate and extent of plasmid transfer in biofilms. However, further simulations using AQUASIM revealed that under nutrient poor conditions, the number of transconjugants appearing in the biofilm was limited.