We have used phage delivered Kan resistance (located on transposons and
plasmids) in Salmonella, E. coli, and Klebsiella in my lab, and never seen
such a problem. It is difficult to tell without knowing what phage/host
you are using, but my guess is that you are inadvertantly selecting for
phage resistance (via changes in the cell surface receptor) or lysogens
(which are immune to superinfecting phage) during the initial delivery of
the Kan resistance element. If you are using a high concentration of
phage or leaving the cells exposed to phage longer than necessary, there
is a very strong natural selection for such resistance.
In article <Pine.SOL.3.91.950124150122.25541A-100000 at chip>, John Coutinho
<szcoutin at peseta.ucdavis.edu> wrote:
> Introduction of kanamycin resistance into the bacterial host cell either
> by transposon or on a plasmid results also in resistance of the host cell
> to the bacteriophage it is normally sensitive to. Has anyone seen
> anything similar to this before and are there any suggestions as to how
> the two phenomena may be related. Thank you in advance.
--
Stanley Maloy
Department of Microbiology
University of Illinois
131 Burrill Hall, 407 S. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
