Outer membrane vesicles mediated horizontal transfer of an aerobic denitrification gene between Escherichia coli

Bacterial genetic material can be horizontally transferred between microorganisms via outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) released by bacteria. Up to now, the application of vesicle-mediated horizontal transfer of “degrading genes” in environmental remediation has not been reported. In this study, the nirS gene from an aerobic denitrification bacterium, Pseudomonas stutzeri, was enclosed in a pET28a plasmid, transformed into Escherichia coli (E. coli) DH5α and expressed in E. coli BL21. The E. coli DH5α released OMVs containing the recombination plasmid pET28a–nirS-EGFP. When compared with the free pET28a–nirS-EGFP plasmid’s inability to transform, nirS in OMVs could be transferred into E. coli BL21 with the transformation frequency of 2.76 × 106 CFU/g when the dosage of OMVs was 200 µg under natural conditions, and nirS could express successfully in recipient bacteria. Furthermore, the recipient bacteria that received OMVs containing pET28a–nirS-EGFP could produce 18.16 U/mL activity of nitrite reductase.