Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stefan Kreida, Akihiro Narita, Matthew D. Johnson, Elitza I. Tocheva, Anath Das, Debnath Ghosal, Grant J. Jensen
Summary: The horizontal transfer of oncogenic DNA by Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes crown gall disease in plants. This transfer is mediated by the VirB/D4 type 4 secretion system (T4SS), which assembles an extracellular filament, the T-pilus, and is involved in mating pair formation. A 3 A cryo-EM structure of the T-pilus was obtained, revealing its stoichiometric assembly of VirB2 major pilin and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) phospholipid with 5-start helical symmetry. The T-pilus lumen is positively charged, raising questions about its role in ssDNA transfer.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Qiang Pu, Xiao-Ting Fan, An-Qi Sun, Ting Pan, Hu Li, Simon Bo Lassen, Xin-Li An, Jian-Qiang Su
Summary: The simultaneous exposure to Cd2+ and high concentration nano Fe2O3 significantly increased the transfer frequencies of plasmid RP4, leading to the formation of more transconjugants, most of which were identified as human pathogens. The co-effect of Cd2+ and nano Fe2O3 enhanced cell membrane permeability, antioxidant enzyme activities, and mRNA expression levels of conjugation genes, exacerbating the conjunctive transfer of ARGs.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiaobo Yang, Yuanyuan Niu, Yutong Yang, Hongrui Zhou, Jing Li, Xinyue Fu, Zhiqiang Shen, Jingfeng Wang, Zhigang Qiu
Summary: Conjugative plasmids can be transferred horizontally in bacteria, contributing to the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes. This study reveals that the hormone estradiol can promote the transfer of plasmids in Enterococcus faecalis, increasing antibiotic resistance. It is suggested that estradiol activates the pheromone signaling cascade and directly binds to the pheromone receptor, enhancing plasmid transfer and antibiotic resistance.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Shan Wang, Mingming Liu, Dan Wang, Shanshan Li, Wei Yan
Summary: In this study, it was found that the plasmid pND6-1 in Pseudomonas putida ND6 strain can improve the stability and transfer rate of plasmid pND6-2. The removal of pND6-1 results in a lower burden on the host, while the presence of pND6-1 enhances the stability of pND6-2 in both natural and heterologous hosts and promotes the conjugation efficiency between pND6-2 and specific strains.
ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Sofia Mindlin, Olga Maslova, Alexey Beletsky, Varvara Nurmukanova, Zhiyong Zong, Andrey Mardanov, Mayya Petrova
Summary: The study provides a detailed characterization of a newly discovered family of multi-drug resistant mega-plasmids in Acinetobacter species, showing their ability to spread among different species and mobilize other mobilizable plasmids efficiently. It also reveals a significant presence of mega-plasmids in natural Acinetobacter strains, with a clear correlation between living conditions and plasmid structure. The findings highlight the key role of these mega-plasmids in the dissemination of multi-drug resistance in Acinetobacter species.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Thomas D. Watts, Daouda A. K. Traore, Sarah C. Atkinson, Carmen Lao, Natalie Caltabiano, Julian Rood, Vicki Adams
Summary: The compatibility of conjugative toxin plasmids in Clostridium perfringens is mediated by their ParMRC-like partitioning systems, with plasmids from the same family being incompatible and plasmids from different families being compatible.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Haining Huang, Guanqun Feng, Meng Wang, Chao Liu, Yang Wu, Lei Dong, Leiyu Feng, Xiong Zheng, Yinguang Chen
Summary: Nitric oxide (NO), an intermediate of the wastewater nitrogen cycle, significantly enhances the conjugative transfer of plasmids between different bacteria by increasing outer membrane permeability and activating global regulatory genes. The exposure to NO can pose risks in spreading antibiotic resistance genes among wastewater microbiota.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hua Li, Arnaud Dechesne, Zhiming He, Marlene Mark Jensen, Hai Liang Song, Barth F. Smets
Summary: Current in the milliampere range can enhance conjugal plasmid transfer between bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The exposure to sublethal current intensities during electrochemical disinfection can lead to increased transconjugant frequency and expression of conjugation-related genes. It is crucial to carefully control the conditions of electrochemical disinfection to prevent the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ivo Iavicoli, Luca Fontana, Evgenios Agathokleous, Carolina Santocono, Francesco Russo, Ilaria Vetrani, Mauro Fedele, Edward J. Calabrese
Summary: Environmental contamination of antibiotics due to over or inappropriate use can promote antimicrobial resistance and have adverse impacts on ecosystems and human health. Bacteria exposed to low concentrations of antibiotics in the environment may exhibit hormetic effects, enhancing their resistance to antibiotics.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Jessica Guzman-Otazo, Enrique Joffre, Jorge Agramont, Nataniel Mamani, Jekaterina Jutkina, Fredrik Boulund, Yue O. O. Hu, Daphne Jumilla-Lorenz, Anne Farewell, D. G. Joakim Larsson, Carl-Fredrik Flach, Volga Iniguez, Asa Sjoling
Summary: This study found that environmental bacterial communities from the highly contaminated La Paz River basin in Bolivia have the potential to transfer antibiotic resistance genes to Escherichia coli. The predominant plasmids in the transconjugants belonged to the incompatibility group N and were verified to be mobile. Interestingly, all transconjugants also acquired the class 1 integron intl1. Metal resistance genes were found to have a minor role in the spread of multidrug-resistant plasmids at the investigated sites.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Ruben L. L. Sanchez-Nieves, Changyi Zhang, Rachel J. J. Whitaker
Summary: This study investigates a plasmid-mediated mechanism of gene transfer in Sulfolobus islandicus that leads to high frequency recombination within the chromosome. Through genomic analysis, the researchers establish the distribution of recombinant tracts and identify distal non-selected recombination events. This study reveals the molecular factors governing gene transfer and recombination in crenarchaea.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Dongxing Tian, Weiwen Wang, Meng Li, Wenjie Chen, Ying Zhou, Yunkun Huang, Zike Sheng, Xiaofei Jiang
Summary: The study focused on the hypervirulence and transfer ability of a hypervirulent strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae harboring a conjugative virulence plasmid. Results showed that the transconjugants acquired the ability to produce high levels of siderophores and caused high mortality in wax larvae and mice, suggesting the potential spread of similar plasmids throughout China and possibly worldwide.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yutong Yang, Xiaobo Yang, Hongrui Zhou, Yuanyuan Niu, Jing Li, Xinyue Fu, Shang Wang, Bin Xue, Chenyu Li, Chen Zhao, Xi Zhang, Zhiqiang Shen, Jingfeng Wang, Zhigang Qiu
Summary: Chemical pollution in the environment enhances the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), posing a threat to human health and ecological safety. Bisphenols (BPs) have been found to significantly promote the conjugation of ARGs mediated by plasmids in bacteria. Bisphenol A (BPA) upregulates pheromone expression, promotes bacterial aggregation, and even directly activates conjugation.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yutong Yang, Xiaobo Yang, Hongrui Zhou, Yuanyuan Niu, Jing Li, Xinyue Fu, Shang Wang, Bin Xue, Chenyu Li, Chen Zhao, Xi Zhang, Zhiqiang Shen, Jingfeng Wang, Zhigang Qiu
Summary: The enrichment and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) induced by environmental chemical pollution pose a threat to human health and ecological safety. This study established a new conjugation model and confirmed that environmentally relevant concentrations of bisphenols (BPs) can significantly promote the conjugation of ARGs mediated by plasmid pCF10. The findings provide new insight into the environmental behavior and biological effect of BPs and offer a new method and theory for studying the enrichment and spread of ARGs induced by environmental chemical pollution.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yingchao Cui, Jingfeng Gao, Yi Guo, Ziqiao Li, Zhiqi Wang, Yifan Zhao
Summary: This study demonstrated that Paracetamol (PRC) can promote intergenera conjugative plasmid transfer, which leads to the spread of antibiotic resistance. The treatment of PRC induced changes in reactive oxygen species, SOS response, and cell membrane permeability of both donor and recipient strains. Transcriptome analysis revealed that PRC significantly upregulated the expression of genes related to cell membrane permeability and SOS response. Additionally, PRC also increased the expressions of conjugation related genes in donor strains.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xia Wan, Xue-Rong Zhou, Gabriel Moncalian, Lin Su, Wen-Chao Chen, Hang-Zhi Zhu, Dan Chen, Yang-Min Gong, Feng-Hong Huang, Qian-Chun Deng
Summary: This review focuses on the strategies of reprogramming microorganisms for astaxanthin production via metabolic engineering, with a primary discussion on the applications of synthetic biology, enzyme engineering, and metabolic engineering in this field. The article also summarizes the biosynthetic pathways of astaxanthin within natural producers, as well as achievements and challenges in enhancing astaxanthin production in microorganisms.
PROGRESS IN LIPID RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Arantza Basauri, Marcos Fallanza, Laura Giner-Robles, Raill Fernandez-Lopez, Gabriel Moncalian, Fernando de la Cruz, Inmaculada Ortiz
Summary: This work presents an integrated methodology to advance the design of the LPS sequestration stage for its separation from biofluids, combining protein and separation fundamentals to achieve selective binding and sequestration of endotoxin from biological fluids.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Jose F. Delgado-Blas, Cristina M. Ovejero, Sophia David, Natalia Montero, William Calero-Caceres, M. Pilar Garcillan-Barcia, Fernando de la Cruz, Maite Muniesa, David M. Aanensen, Bruno Gonzalez-Zorn
Summary: The study found that bacteria in wastewater are more resistant to antibiotics and primarily adapt through a diverse set of plasmids, whereas bacteria in rivers mainly adapt through chromosomal changes.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Santiago Redondo-Salvo, Roger Bartomeus-Penalver, Luis Vielva, Kaitlin A. Tagg, Hattie E. Webb, Raul Fernandez-Lopez, Fernando de la Cruz
Summary: Plasmids play a key role in spreading antibiotic resistance, virulence, and other adaptive traits in bacteria. COPLA is a bioinformatic tool that offers a universal, species-independent method for plasmid classification based on average nucleotide identity metrics, helping geneticists and microbiologists quickly classify plasmids. The automated pipeline implemented by COPLA successfully assigned a significant portion of unclassified plasmids to known plasmid taxonomic units (PTUs), with a large fraction representing novel PTUs.
BMC BIOINFORMATICS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alix Corneloup, Anne Caumont-Sarcos, Alain Kamgoue, Brigitte Marty, Phan Thai Nguyen Le, Patricia Siguier, Catherine Guynet, Bao Ton-Hoang
Summary: REP, diverse palindromic DNA sequences found at high copy number in many bacterial genomes, have important roles in cell physiology. In vitro experiments reveal the interaction between TnpA(REP) and REPs with different structures.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Charles Coluzzi, Maria Pilar Garcillan-Barcia, Fernando de la Cruz, Eduardo P. C. Rocha
Summary: Conjugation drives the horizontal transfer of adaptive traits across prokaryotes, and the evolution of plasmid mobility is frequent and shapes the patterns of gene flow in bacteria and the ecology of plasmids.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Hattie E. Webb, Kaitlin A. Tagg, Justin Y. Kim, Elizabeth A. Miller, Timothy J. Johnson, Arancha Penil-Celis, Fernando de la Cruz, Jason P. Folster
Summary: This study provides five Salmonella Reading reference genomes collected from US patients between 2016 and 2018, offering important data for further investigation of the outbreak linked to raw turkey products.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Valentin Quebre, Irene del Campo, Ana Cuevas, Patricia Siguier, Jerome Rech, Phan Thai Nguyen Le, Bao Ton-Hoang, Francois Cornet, Jean-Yves Bouet, Gabriel Moncalian, Fernando de la Cruz, Catherine Guynet
Summary: This study determined the crystal structure of the conserved N-terminal domain of StbA, revealing the molecular basis of StbA and its role in plasmid segregation.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Hattie E. Webb, Justin Y. Kim, Kaitlin A. Tagg, Fernando de la Cruz, Arancha Penil-Celis, Beth Tolar, Zachary Ellison, Colin Schwensohn, Joshua Brandenburg, Megin Nichols, Jason P. Folster
Summary: This study reports 18 Salmonella Hadar genomes from samples collected from patients in the United States between 2014 and 2020, addressing the lack of reference genomes for this serotype.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marta Robledo, Beatriz Alvarez, Ana Cuevas, Sheila Gonzalez, David Ruano-Gallego, Luis Angel Fernandez, Fernando de la Cruz
Summary: This study presents a synthetic bacterial adhesion system that enhances the delivery of genetic cargo to targeted recipients, overcoming the challenges of genetic interventions on microbiomes. The system allows for efficient conjugation and transfer of plasmids, particularly in liquid media, and enables selective gene delivery to desired hosts.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Raul Fernandez-Lopez, Raul Ruiz, Irene del Campo, Lorena Gonzalez-Montes, D. Roeland Boer, Fernando de la Cruz, Gabriel Moncalian
Summary: Some transcription factors prefer binding to DNA motifs with direct or inverted sequence repeats based on structural constraints. Most prokaryotic regulators form symmetric oligomers that require operators with a dyad structure. Breaking the internal symmetry is necessary for binding to direct repeats, a property mostly seen in a few regulators from the AraC family. The KorA family of transcriptional repressors, involved in plasmid propagation and stability, includes members that form symmetric dimers and recognize inverted repeats. Our structural analyses reveal that ArdK, a member of this family, can form a symmetric dimer similar to KorA, but it binds to direct sequence repeats as a non-symmetric dimer by rotating one of the helix-turn-helix domains by 180 degrees. We also confirmed ArdK's affinity for an inverted repeat, which surprisingly is also recognized by a non-symmetrical dimer. Our findings suggest that structural flexibility at different positions in the dimerization interface restricts transcription factors to bind to DNA sequences with one of these two alternative DNA topologies.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Cristina Gonzalez-Fernandez, Christoph Ohlknecht, Matthias Diem, Yerko Escalona, Eugenio Bringas, Gabriel Moncalian, Chris Oostenbrink, Inmaculada Ortiz
Summary: The development of new strategies to combat Gram-negative bacterial infections, particularly those resistant to antibiotics, is crucial due to the global increase in antibiotic resistance. This study focuses on the use of extracorporeal blood cleansing devices with affinity sorbents for capturing bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which stimulates an exacerbated immune response during infection. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the interaction mechanism between an anti-LPS factor (ALF) isoform 3 from Penaeus monodon (AL3) and lipid A (LA, a component of LPS). The results revealed the binding mechanism and key interacting residues, which can guide the design of LPS-sequestrating molecules for blood detoxification.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL INFORMATION AND MODELING
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Patricia Siguier, Manuel Campos, Francois Cornet, Jean-Yves Bouet, Catherine Guynet
Summary: Plasmid families have different maintenance functions depending on their size and copy number. Low copy number plasmids use active partition systems to ensure proper distribution, while some lack active systems but have unique intracellular positioning using a single protein that binds to centromere site. The systems of Escherichia coli R388 and Staphylococcus aureus pSK1 plasmids, although unrelated, share common features and may interact dynamically with the host chromosome.