Leuconostoc mesenteroides SY1, a strain isolated from cabbage Kimchi, was transformed with pCW4, a shuttle vector based on a cryptic plasmid from Lactobacillus paraplantarum C7. $alpha-Amylase$ gene, amyL, from Bacillus licheniformis was cloned into pCW4, resulting in $pCW4T{alpha},;and;pCW4T{alpha}$ was introduced into SY1 by electroporation. Transformation efficiency was $10^2cells/{mu}g$ plasmid DNA. L. mesenteroides cells harboring $pCW4T{alpha}$ did not show amylase activity, although amyL transcript was synthesized as determined by slot blot experiment. $pCW4T{alpha}$ was stably maintained in SY1 in the presence of erythromycin (Em, $5;{mu}g/ml$) but rapidly lost when Em was omitted. Less than $1\%$ of the cells maintained $pCW4T{alpha}$ after 5 days at $30^{circ}C$.