A new temperature-sensitive vector was constructed for allelic replacement mutagenesis in S. aureus. The vector is based on the replicon of the lactococcal plasmid pWV01ts (from pVE6007 [21 (link)]) rather than the commonly used staphylococcal pE194ts replicon (30 (link)). A hybrid vector (pIMC5) was created by spliced overlap extension (SOE) PCR. It comprises (i) the repBCAD(Ts) genes from pVE6007 and (ii) the E. coli backbone p15A rep and pBluescript KS multiple cloning site and the highly expressed chloramphenicol acyltransferase marker from pIMC (31 (link)). The counterselection marker encoding tetracycline-inducible antisense secY RNA was amplified from pKOR1 and introduced between the novel BglII and SphI sites to form pIMAY.