Table 1 Strains and plasmids used in this study

Strains

 M63c

E. coli wt, S^R, Nal^R, Sul^R, Amp^R, Cip^R, Te^R, W^R, K^R

[20]

 DH5α

F^– ø80dlacZΔM15 Δ(lacZYA-argF)U169 deoR recA1 endA1 hsdR17(rK^– mK⁺) phoA supE44 λ–thi-1 gyrA96 relA1

Invitrogen

 ORN172

thr-l leuB thi-1 A(argF-lac)U169 maL1l xyl-7 ara-13 26 mtl-2 gal-6 rpsL tonA2 supE44 Δ(fimBEACDFGH);

[24]

 EC1502

Rifampicin-resistant, plasmid free E. coli strain

University of Bradford

Plasmids

 pMB2

125 Kb Naturally occurring aac(6′)-Ib-cr-bearing plasmid

[6]

 pMB80-2

Naturally occurring conjugative plasmid from enteropathogenic E. coli strain

[25]

 pRMKO

93 Kb Miniplasmid constructed by deleting a 32,331 bp Not1—Xba1 fragment from parental plasmid pMB2

[6]

 pRMC

pBluescript II SK containing a 32,331 bp Not1—Xba1 fragment from pMB2 cloned

[6]

 pBAD/Thio-TOPO

Arabinose inducible expression vector

Invitrogen

 pBluescript II SK + 

High copy number cloning vector

Agilent

 pINKpefB

papB/pefB paralogue from pMB2 cloned into pBAD/Thio-TOPO

This study

 pLMJ50

90 Kb aggregative adherence plasmid from enteroaggregative E. coli strain 60A marked with a cat cassette

[31]