The presence of Sodium orthovanadate more than 30 tRNA genes and CRISPRs (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), which provide acquired resistance against viruses [52], on scaffold 2 is indicative for the chromosome. However, scaffold 2 does also contain a complete RepABC operon with genes for plasmid replication initiation (RepC-11; unpublished replication type) and partitioning (RepAB) as well as a perfect palindrome 5′-TTTACCG\CGGTAAA-3′ that probably represents a functional cis-acting anchor for plasmid partitioning [53]. This peculiar distribution may either indicate the integration of a RepABC-11 type plasmid into the chromosome via recombination or an ��outsourcing�� of essential chromosomal genes to a plasmid that has recently been documented for the photosynthesis genes cluster of the Roseobacter litoralis [54].

Table 5 General genomic features of the chromosome and extrachromosomal replicons from Phaeobacter caeruleus strain DSM 24564T. *circularity not experimentally validated; #deduced from automatic annotation. The presence of plasmid replication modules on the remaining six fragments with sizes between 22 and 271 kb indicates that they all represent extrachromosomal elements, but their circularity has not been experimentally validated (Table 5). Three of the putative plasmids also contain RepABC-type operons representing the compatibility groups C-2, C-8 and C-12 [53]. The three remaining plasmids pCaer_C109, pCaer_D95 and pCaer_F22 represent DnaA-like I, RepB-I and RepA-I type plasmids, respectively [55,56].

The smallest plasmid pCaer_F22 contains the RepA-I type replicase, but a partitioning module is lacking. This distribution may correspond to a higher plasmid copy number within the cell thus assuring the replicon maintenance in the daughter cells after cell division. The locus tags of all replicases, plasmid stability modules and the large virB4 and virD4 genes of type IV secretion systems are presented in Table 6. The plasmids pCaer_B246 and pCaer_C109 contain postsegregational killing systems (PSKs) consisting of a typical operon with two small genes encoding a stable toxin and an unstable antitoxin [57]. The largest plasmid pCaer_A271 contains a complete type IV secretion system including the virB operon for the formation of a transmembrane channel.

The relaxase VirD2, which is required for the strand-specific DNA nicking at the origin of transfer (oriT), and the coupling protein VirD4 support Dacomitinib the presence of functional conjugation system [58,59]. The DnaA-like I replicon pCaer_C109 contains a large type VI secretion system (T6SS) with a size of about 30 kb. The role of this export system that has been first described in the context of bacterial pathogenesis, but recent findings indicate a more general physiological role in defense against eukaryotic cells and other bacteria in the environment [60].