Stevenson, Cagla, Hall, James Pj, Harrison, Ellie et al. (2 more authors) (2017) Gene mobility promotes the spread of resistance in bacterial populations. The ISME Journal. pp. 1930-1932. ISSN 1751-7362
Abstract
Theory predicts that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) expands the selective conditions under which genes spread in bacterial populations. Whereas vertically inherited genes can only spread by positively selected clonal expansion, mobile genetic elements can drive fixation of genes by infectious HGT. We tested this using populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens and the conjugative mercury resistance (Hg R) plasmid pQBR57. HGT expanded the selective conditions allowing the spread of Hg R: Chromosomal Hg R only increased in frequency under positive selection, whereas plasmid-encoded Hg R reached fixation with or without positive selection. Tracking plasmid dynamics over time revealed that the mode of Hg R inheritance varied across mercury environments. Under mercury selection, the spread of Hg R was driven primarily by clonal expansion while in the absence of mercury Hg R dynamics were dominated by infectious transfer. Thus, HGT is most likely to drive the spread of resistance genes in environments where resistance is useless.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017, The Author(s). |
Keywords: | Drug Resistance, Bacterial/genetics,Gene Transfer, Horizontal,Mercury/toxicity,Plasmids/genetics,Pseudomonas fluorescens/drug effects |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Biology (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Mathematics (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 07 Apr 2017 15:40 |
Last Modified: | 31 Mar 2025 23:06 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.42 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/ismej.2017.42 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:114831 |