phenotypic characteristics including colony morphology,
spore formation, growth rate and antibiotic production
(data not shown). When we introduced pIJ8655
containing the egfp gene under the control of the thiostrepton-inducible tipA promoter (Sun et al. 1999)
into S. rimosus R7 using the newly established conjugal
transfer system, the transconjugants showed a high level
of fluorescence (Fig. 3).