Patent ID: 7700091

Claim:
A bacterium for gene transfer to eukaryotic cells comprising: a foreign DNA integrated into an episomal vector, wherein the transcription and expression of the foreign DNA is under the control of a eukaryotic regulatory sequence, wherein the bacterium is: (i) L. innocua comprising a wild-type hly gene from L. monocytogenes; (ii) E. coli comprising a wild-type hly gene from L. monocytogenes; (iii) E. coli strain K12 comprising an inv gene from Y. pseudotuberculosis; (iv) Bacillus subtilis comprising a wild-type hly gene from L. monocytogenes (v) L. monocytogenes comprising a deleted or attenuated cspL, hly, plcB, or dapE gene; or (vi) S. typhimurium comprising a deleted or attenuated phoP gene.