Monitoring plasmid-mediated horizontal gene transfer in microbiomes: recent advances and future perspectives
Publication date: Available online 4 August 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Rafael Pinilla-Redondo, Valentine Cyriaque, Samuel Jacquioid, Søren J. Sørensen, Leise RiberAbstractThe emergence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria constitutes an increasing global health concern. Although it is well recognized that the cornerstone underlying this phenomenon is the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance via plasmids and other mobile genetic elements, the antimicrobial resistance transfer routes remain largely uncharted. In this review, we describe different methods for assessing the transfer frequency and host ranges of plasmi...
Source: Plasmid - August 5, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Evolution and typing of IncC plasmids contributing to antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria
Publication date: Available online 3 August 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Stephanie J. Ambrose, Christopher J. Harmer, Ruth M. HallAbstractThe large, broad host range IncC plasmids are important contributors to the spread of key antibiotic resistance genes and over 200 complete sequences of IncC plasmids have been reported. To track the spread of these plasmids accurate typing to identify the closest relatives is needed. However, typing can be complicated by the high variability in resistance gene content and various typing methods that rely on features of the conserved backbone have been developed. Plasmids can be broadly...
Source: Plasmid - August 4, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
A plasmid-encoded mobile genetic element from Pseudomonas aeruginosa that confers heavy metal resistance and virulence
Publication date: Available online 29 July 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Karen C. Hernández-Ramírez, Rosa I. Reyes-Gallegos, Víctor M. Chávez-Jacobo, A. Díaz-Magaña, Víctor Meza-Carmen, Martha I. Ramírez-DíazAbstractMobile plasmid-encoded elements are DNA segments that are transferred for horizontal gene transfer and that confer adaptive proprieties, as well as virulence and antibiotic and heavy metal resistance to bacteria. The conjugative plasmid pUM505, isolated from a clinical strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, possesses a putative 31.292 kb mobile element (denominated Mpe: Mobile plasmid- encoded element) th...
Source: Plasmid - July 29, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Antibiotic resistance plasmids and mobile genetic elements of Clostridium perfringens
Publication date: Available online 26 July 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Vicki Adams, Xiaoyan Han, Dena Lyras, Julian I. RoodAbstractClostridium perfringens is an anaerobic bacterium that is a major human and animal pathogen. The key features of C. perfringens-mediated infections are that disease pathogenesis involves the production of protein toxins and that disease epidemiology generally involves the production of environmentally resistant endospores. Many of the toxins involved in these diseases are encoded on conjugative plasmids that are closely related to the paradigm tetracycline resistance plasmid pCW3. This plasmi...
Source: Plasmid - July 26, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Editorial Board
Publication date: March–May 2018Source: Plasmid, Volumes 96–97Author(s): (Source: Plasmid)
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Complete sequence of the tumor-inducing plasmid pTiChry5 from the hypervirulent Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain Chry5
Publication date: March–May 2018Source: Plasmid, Volumes 96–97Author(s): Shuai Shao, Xiaorong Zhang, G. Paul H. van Heusden, Paul J.J. HooykaasAbstractAgrobacterium tumefaciens strain Chry5 is hypervirulent on many plants including soybean that are poorly transformed by other A. tumefaciens strains. Therefore, it is considered as a preferred vector for genetic transformation of plants. Here we report the complete nucleotide sequence of its chrysopine-type Ti-plasmid pTiChry5. It is comprised of 197,268 bp with an overall GC content of 54.5%. Two T-DNA regions are present and 219 putative protein-coding sequences coul...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Compatibility and entry exclusion of IncA and IncC plasmids revisited: IncA and IncC plasmids are compatible
Publication date: March–May 2018Source: Plasmid, Volumes 96–97Author(s): Stephanie J. Ambrose, Christopher J. Harmer, Ruth M. HallAbstractIn an early study, IncA and IncC plasmids that were reported to be compatible were grouped as the “A-C complex” based on similarities and on strong entry exclusion. However, recently, the term IncA/C has been used frequently to describe plasmids belonging to both of these two groups. Granted that the supporting data was not included in the original reports and that the consensus iteron sequences have since been shown to be essentially identical, we have addressed the question aga...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Comparative analysis of rhizobial chromosomes and plasmids to estimate their evolutionary relationships
Publication date: March–May 2018Source: Plasmid, Volumes 96–97Author(s): Xinye Wang, Dongying Liu, Yantao Luo, Liang Zhao, Zhenshan Liu, Minxia Chou, Entao Wang, Gehong WeiAbstractIn the present study, complete genomic sequences retrieved from 57 rhizobial strains that covered four genera including 11 species were analyzed comprehensively. The four types of replicons: chromosomes, chromids, nonsymbiotic plasmids, and symbiotic plasmids were investigated and compared among these strains. Results showed that co-evolution occurred among these four replicons based on the similarities in average nucleotide identity. High co...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Identification of large cryptic plasmids in Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile
Publication date: March–May 2018Source: Plasmid, Volumes 96–97Author(s): Jacob Amy, Dieter Bulach, Daniel Knight, Tom Riley, Priscilla Johanesen, Dena LyrasAbstractClostridioides (Clostridium) difficile is a major bacterial pathogen of both humans and animals. Several species of pathogenic clostridia are known to harbour large plasmids with combinations of virulence, antibiotic resistance and metabolism determinants. Small cryptic plasmids have been previously identified in C. difficile, but there is a lack of recent work examining the prevalence and heterogeneity of plasmids in this diverse bacterial species. A survey...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Mobile macrolide resistance genes in staphylococci
Publication date: Available online 26 May 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Andrea T. Feßler, Yang Wang, Congming Wu, Stefan SchwarzAbstractMacrolide resistance in staphylococci is based on the expression of a number of genes which specify four major resistance mechanisms: (i) target site modification by methylation of the ribosomal target site in the 23S rRNA, (ii) ribosome protection via ABC-F proteins, (iii) active efflux via Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) transporters, and (iv) enzymatic inactivation by phosphotransferases or esterases. So far, 14 different classes of erm genes, which code for 23S rRNA methylases, ha...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Baculovirus for gene delivery to mammalian cells: Past, present and future
Publication date: June 2018Source: Plasmid, Volume 98Author(s): Maysam Mansouri, Philipp BergerAbstractBaculovirus is an insect virus which has been used for more than thirty years for production of recombinant proteins in insect cells. However, baculovirus can also be harnessed for efficient gene delivery to mammalian cells if it is equipped with mammalian promoters. This technology is known as BacMam and has been used for gene delivery to immortalized cell lines, stem cells, and primary cells, as well as for gene delivery in animals. Baculovirus has unique features when compared to mammalian viruses. Besides the fact tha...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Mobile lincosamide resistance genes in staphylococci
Publication date: Available online 19 June 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Andrea T. Feßler, Yang Wang, Congming Wu, Stefan SchwarzAbstractLincosamide resistance in staphylococci is based on the expression of a number of genes which specify three major resistance mechanisms: (i) enzymatic inactivation by lincosamide nucleotidyltransferases, (ii) ribosome protection by ABC-F proteins, and (iii) methylation of the ribosomal target sites in the 23S rRNA by Cfr or Erm methylases. So far, only two lnu genes, lnu(A) and lnu(B), which code for different types of lincosamide nucleotidyltransferases, have been found in staphylococci...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Broad-host-range Inc18 plasmids: Occurrence, spread and transfer mechanisms
Publication date: Available online 19 June 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Verena Kohler, Ankita Vaishampayan, Elisabeth GrohmannAbstractConjugative plasmid transfer is one of the major mechanisms responsible for the spread of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes. The incompatibility (Inc) 18 group of plasmids is a family of plasmids replicating by the theta-mechanism, whose members have been detected frequently in enterococci and streptococci. Inc18 plasmids encode a variety of antibiotic resistances, including resistance to vancomycin, chloramphenicol and the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramine (MLS) group of antibio...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
Improvement in the efficiency of natural transformation of Haemophilus parasuis by shuttle-plasmid methylation
Publication date: Available online 9 July 2018Source: PlasmidAuthor(s): Xiaojing Zhang, Xuwang Cai, Yi Qi, Yunbao Liu, Qi Cao, Xiangru Wang, Huanchun Chen, Xiaojuan XuAbstractSome Haemophilus parasuis strains display resistance to transformation with Escherichia.coli-derived plasmids. This property limits the application of genetic approaches previously developed for H. parasuis. The present study showed that natural transformation with the shuttle plasmid pS2UK led to allelic exchange in H. parasuis strains SH0165 and CF7066. Furthermore, natural transformation with pS2UK yielded allelic exchange mutants in 10 of 17H. par...
Source: Plasmid - July 10, 2018 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research
