“…These plasmids have been shown to play a pivotal role in genetic exchange among the gut microbiota (Palmer et al, ). However, the role of pheromone‐responsive conjugative plasmids in the oral cavity is not well‐studied, despite numerous reports of the isolation of enterococci from oral sites (Delboni, Gomes, Francisco, Teixeira, & Drake, ; Sedgley, Lennan, & Clewell, ) and the recovery of enterococcal cells carrying determinants from the pheromone‐responsive plasmid pAM373 associated with periodontal (Song et al, ) and unsuccessfully treated endodontic (Barbosa‐Ribeiro et al, ) lesions. Oral metagenomic sequencing studies show a broad distribution of antibiotic resistance genes even without antibiotic selective pressure (Sukumar, Roberts, Martin, & Adler, ).…”