Construction and characterization of a new shuttle vector, pLES2, capable of functioning in Escherichia coli and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

In vitro recombination techniques were used to construct a bifunctional shuttle vector capable of functioning in Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Escherichia coli. This 6-kb plasmid contains a selectable phenotype, beta-lactamase production, which functions in both organisms. It also contains the lac region from pUC9 that allows for the direct selection of hybrid plasmids in the appropriate E. coli hosts by disruption of beta-galactosidase alpha complementation. The lac region contains several unique restriction sites useful for cloning: EcoRI, SmaI, BamHI and SalI.