Table 1 Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study

SM9913

P. sp. SM9913, deep-sea sediment at a water depth of 1855 meters near the Okinawa Trough, 20°C

[8]

A37-1-2

P. arctica A37-1-2, Arctic sea ice strain, 20°C

[7]

DSM 16099

P. spiralis DSM 16099, deep ocean hydrothermal vents of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, 30°C

[35]

DSM 16098

P. telluritireducens DSM 16098, deep ocean hydrothermal vents of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, 30°C

[35]

DSM 6842

P. rubra DSM 6842, Mediterranean coastal waters off Nice, 25°C

[26,36]

SM20429

P. sp. SM20429, plasmid curing mutant of P. sp. BSi20429, Arctic sea ice strain, 20°C

[9]

TAC125

P. haloplanktis TAC125, Antarctic surface seawater, 20°C

[37]

SCSIO 04301

P. lipolytica SCSIO 04301, sediment at 63 m deep in the South China Sea (18°0=N, 109°42=E), 25°C

[28]

SCSIO 11900

P. sp. SCSIO 11900, surface mucus layer of the coral at 4 m deep in the South China Sea (18°13=N, 109°28=E) , 25°C

[28]

ΔbsmA

bsmA gene deletion mutant of P.sp. SM9913

This study

ΔpigM-K

Deletion mutant of the DNA region containing pigM-K genes related to prodigiosin biosynthesis in P. rubra DSM 6842

This study

ΔhmgA

hmgA gene deletion mutant of P. lipolytica SCSIO 04301

This study

ΔfliFG

Deletion mutant of the DNA region containing fliFG genes encoding flagellar motor proteins in P. sp. SCSIO 11900

This study

WM3064

RP4 (tra) in chromosome, DAP^-, 37°C

[23]

pWD2

E. coli and Pseudoalteromonas shuttle vector, Amp^r, Cm^r

[9]

pHT304

E. coli and Bacillus thuringiensis shuttle vector, Ampr, Eryr thuringiensis shuttle vector, Amp^r, Ery^r

[30]

pBBR1MCS-2

Broad-host-range cloning vector, Kan^r

[22]

pWD2-oriT

pWD2 containing 1.5 kb BamHI fragment with mobilization region from pBBR1MCS-2, Amp^r, Cm^r

This study

pWD2Ery-oriT

pWD2-oriT containing a 900bp erythromycin resistant gene replaced the chloramphenicol resistant gene, Amp^r, Ery^r

This study

pK18mobsacB

Widely used gene knockout vector, Kan^r

[24]

pK18mobsacB-Cm

pK18mobsacB containing the chloramphenicol resistant gene from pWD2, Kan^r, Cm^r

This study

pK18mobsacB-Ery

pK18mobsacB containing the erythromycin resistant gene from pHT304, Kan^r, Ery^r

This study

pK18Cm-bsmA

pK18mobsacB-Cm containing the homologous arms of bsmA gene of SM9913, Kan^r, Cm^r

This study

pK18Ery-pigM-K

pK18mobsacB-Ery containing the homologous arms of the pigM-pigK DNA region of DSM 6842, Kan^r, Ery^r

This study

pK18Ery-hmgA

pK18mobsacB-Ery containing the homologous arms of hmgA gene of SCSIO 04301, Kan^r, Ery^r

This study

pK18Ery-fliFG

pK18mobsacB-Ery containing the homologous arms of the fliF-fliG DNA region of SCSIO 11900, Kan^r, Ery^r

This study