A new class of conjugative plasmid in Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Plasmid pWBG637, a Staphylococcus aureus conjugative plasmid having no known resistance phenotype, was compared with other conjugative plasmids in S. aureus by restriction endonuclease analysis, incompatibility testing and DNA-DNA hybridisation. It differed from the other conjugative plasmids on all three criteria and thus belongs to a new class of conjugative plasmids.