Novel high- and low-copy stable cosmids for use in Agrobacterium and Rhizobium

Presented are a set of cosmids based on the unit copy Agrobacterium plasmid, pTAR, and the high-copy-number mutant plasmid, pUCD500, of pTiC58. The addition of a par function derived from pTAR to the vectors allowed them to be stably maintained throughout the cell population in the absence of selective pressure. These vectors, designed for Agrobacterium and Rhizobium, also work in Escherichia coli. The vectors can be cotransferred to Rhizobiaceae from E. coli with the helper plasmid, pRK2013. The pTiC58 origin containing vectors, pUCD1000 and pUCD1001 were found to be incompatible with a 250-kb plasmid harbored by R. meliloti RM102Z1. RM102Z1(pUCD1000) was still capable of nodulating roots in alfalfa.