Conjugation is necessary for a bacterial plasmid to survive under protozoan predation

  • Johannes Cairns
    Department of Food and Environmental Sciences/Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, Helsinki 00014, Finland
  • Matti Jalasvuori
    Department of Biological and Environmental Science/Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Jyväskylä 40014, Finland
  • Ville Ojala
    Department of Biological and Environmental Science/Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Jyväskylä 40014, Finland
  • Michael Brockhurst
    Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
  • Teppo Hiltunen
    Department of Food and Environmental Sciences/Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, Helsinki 00014, Finland

書誌事項

公開日
2016-02
権利情報
  • https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/
DOI
  • 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0953
公開者
The Royal Society

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説明

<jats:p>Horizontal gene transfer by conjugative plasmids plays a critical role in the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Interactions between bacteria and other organisms can affect the persistence and spread of conjugative plasmids. Here we show that protozoan predation increased the persistence and spread of the antibiotic resistance plasmid RP4 in populations of the opportunist bacterial pathogen<jats:italic>Serratia marcescens</jats:italic>. A conjugation-defective mutant plasmid was unable to survive under predation, suggesting that conjugative transfer is required for plasmid persistence under the realistic condition of predation. These results indicate that multi-trophic interactions can affect the maintenance of conjugative plasmids with implications for bacterial evolution and the spread of antibiotic resistance genes.</jats:p>

収録刊行物

  • Biology Letters

    Biology Letters 12 (2), 20150953-, 2016-02

    The Royal Society

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