Study of the resistance of Acinetobacter sp. to mercuric chloride

In addition to large plasmids (approx 60 kb) a small plasmid (almost 7.5 kb), plasmid PKL1, has been found in HgCl/sub 2/-resistant strains of Acinetobacter sp. isolated from soil in the vicinity of the Khaidarkan mercury deposit. With the aid of conjugation and transformation studies it was established that plasmid pKL1 is a mobilized plasmid with a broad host range and that this plasmid carries the Hg/sup r/-determinant. A restriction map of plasmid pKL1 was constructed, and the site of the Hg/sup r/-determinant and the regions essential for replication were localized. By comparing the results of the present study and previously-obtained data it was proposed that in a given microbiocoenosis the Hg/sup r/-determinants may occur in plasmids which differ markedly in structure and properties.