Evidence for natural transfer of a tetracycline resistance gene between bacteria from the human colon and bacteria from the bovine rumen

Abstract excerpt

Previously, we demonstrated conjugal transfer of a specially constructed shuttle vector, pRDB5, from the human colonic anaerobe Bacteroides uniformis to the ruminal anaerobe Prevotella (Bacteroides) ruminicola B(1)4. We have now shown that naturally occurring gene transfer elements in Bacteroides species and Prevotella ruminicola can also be transferred between these two genera. A self-transmissible chromosomal...