Transformation of Arthrobacter and studies on the transcription of the Arthrobacter ermA gene in Streptomyces lividans and Escherichia coli.

We report the development of a plasmid-mediated transformation system for Arthrobacter sp. NRRLB3381, using the Streptomyces cloning vector pIJ702. Our procedure gives a transformation frequency of 10(3)/micrograms of plasmid DNA. In addition we have explored the expression of the Arthrobacter ermA gene in Streptomyces lividans and Escherichia coli, and shown that the ermA promoter is recognized in S. lividans not E. coli. The relationship between Arthrobacter, Streptomyces and E. coli promoters is discussed.