Homologies among three Bacillus licheniformis plasmids and molecular characterization of their replication module

To assess to what extent three Bacillus licheniformis plasmids had the same molecular organization a physical map of the 9.34, 8.40 and 7.90 kb plasmids was achieved by using seventeen restriction enzymes. Southern hybridization was performed on plasmids using restriction fragments of the smallest plasmid as probes. Data from different hybridization patterns show a close homology among the three plasmids hypothesizing a similar molecular organization. The lack of plasmid diversity observed, seem to support the hypothesis of a similar phylogeny among these plasmids. This investigation provides more information concerning phylogeny, interrelationships and level of diversity among Bacillus plasmids and a molecular characterization of three plasmids useful for the construction of cloning vectors.