Billane, K., Harrison, E. orcid.org/0000-0002-2050-4631, Cameron, D. et al. (1 more author) (2022) Why do plasmids manipulate the expression of bacterial phenotypes? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377 (1842). ISSN 0962-8436
Abstract
Conjugative plasmids play an important role in bacterial evolution by transferring niche-adaptive traits between lineages, thus driving adaptation and genome diversification. It is increasingly clear, however, that in addition to this evolutionary role, plasmids also manipulate the expression of a broad range of bacterial phenotypes. In this review, we argue that the effects that plasmids have on the expression of bacterial phenotypes may often represent plasmid adaptations, rather than mere deleterious side effects. We begin by summarizing findings from untargeted omics analyses, which give a picture of the global effects of plasmid acquisition on host cells. Thereafter, because many plasmids are capable of both vertical and horizontal transmission, we distinguish plasmid-mediated phenotypic effects into two main classes based upon their potential fitness benefit to plasmids: (i) those that promote the competitiveness of the host cell in a given niche and thereby increase plasmid vertical transmission, and (ii) those that promote plasmid conjugation and thereby increase plasmid horizontal transmission. Far from being mere vehicles for gene exchange, we propose that plasmids often act as sophisticated genetic parasites capable of manipulating their bacterial hosts for their own benefit.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | horizontal gene transfer; mutualism; parasitism; plasmid |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 06 Dec 2021 09:57 |
Last Modified: | 10 Feb 2023 14:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Royal Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rstb.2020.0461 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:181207 |