Essential Regions for Replication of a Stringent and a Relaxed Plasmid in Escherichia coli

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Escherichia coli is host to a large variety of bacterial plasmids. It gains considerable biochemical and genetic diversity from these extrachromosomal elements while providing for them an environment in which they can reproduce. To be maintained in its host, a plasmid must be able both to replicate its genome and to provide each of the daughter cells with at least one copy of itself during cell division. The determination of which of the essential functions required for the replication process are specified by the plasmid and which functions are provided by the host is a major question of plasmid biology.