Mobilizable Rolling-Circle Replicating Plasmids from Gram-Positive Bacteria: A Low-Cost Conjugative Transfer

Fernández-López, Cris; Bravo, Alicia; Ruiz‐Cruz, Sofía; Solano-Collado, Virtu; Garsin, Danielle A.; Lorenzo-Díaz, Fabián; Espinosa, Manuel

doi:10.1128/microbiolspec.plas-0008-2013

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 158 publications

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“…Conjugation-gene clusters are much larger than mobilization loci. The carriage of mobilization loci by most S. aureus plasmids may represent an evolutionary trade-off that enables smaller plasmid size while maintaining a potential for transfer in the presence of a conjugative plasmid 58 . Carriage of an oriT mimic likely has even a smaller impact on plasmid size than Mob-gene carriage and the accumulation of multiple oriT mimics likely increases the opportunity for transfer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An updated view of plasmid conjugation and mobilization inStaphylococcus

Ramsay

Kwong

Murphy

et al. 2016

Mobile Genetic Elements

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The horizontal gene transfer facilitated by mobile genetic elements impacts almost all areas of bacterial evolution, including the accretion and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistance genes in the human and animal pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Genome surveys of staphylococcal plasmids have revealed an unexpected paucity of conjugation and mobilization loci, perhaps suggesting that conjugation plays only a minor role in the evolution of this genus. In this letter we present the DNA sequences of historically documented staphylococcal conjugative plasmids and highlight that at least 3 distinct and widely distributed families of conjugative plasmids currently contribute to the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus. We also review the recently documented “relaxase-in trans” mechanism of conjugative mobilization facilitated by conjugative plasmids pWBG749 and pSK41, and discuss how this may facilitate the horizontal transmission of around 90% of plasmids that were previously considered non-mobilizable. Finally, we enumerate unique sequenced S. aureus plasmids with a potential mechanism of mobilization and predict that at least 80% of all non-conjugative S. aureus plasmids are mobilizable by at least one mechanism. We suggest that a greater research focus on the molecular biology of conjugation is essential if we are to recognize gene-transfer mechanisms from our increasingly in silico analyses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An updated view of plasmid conjugation and mobilization inStaphylococcus

Ramsay

Kwong

Murphy

et al. 2016

Mobile Genetic Elements

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“…This implies that the genetic information contained in plasmids and IMEs is kept at a minimum [11,27,48], according to the ‘travel light’ hypothesis for small genetic elements [49]. ICEs, IMEs and related transmissible elements are the most commonly found elements in S. agalactiae ; they are a major driving force shaping the bacterial genome [6].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Streptococcal group B integrative and mobilizable element IMESag-rpsIencodes a functional relaxase involved in its transfer

et al. 2016

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Streptococcus agalactiae or Group B Streptococcus (GBS) are opportunistic bacteria that can cause lethal sepsis in children and immuno-compromised patients. Their genome is a reservoir of mobile genetic elements that can be horizontally transferred. Among them, integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) and the smaller integrative and mobilizable elements (IMEs) primarily reside in the bacterial chromosome, yet have the ability to be transferred between cells by conjugation. ICEs and IMEs are therefore a source of genetic variability that participates in the spread of antibiotic resistance. Although IMEs seem to be the most prevalent class of elements transferable by conjugation, they are poorly known. Here, we have studied a GBS-IME, termed IMESag-rpsI, which is widely distributed in GBS despite not carrying any apparent virulence trait. Analyses of 240 whole genomes showed that IMESag-rpsI is present in approximately 47% of the genomes, has a roughly constant size (approx. 9 kb) and is always integrated at a single location, the 3′-end of the gene encoding the ribosomal protein S9 (rpsI). Based on their genetic variation, several IMESag-rpsI types were defined (A–J) and classified in clonal complexes (CCs). CC1 was the most populated by IMESag-rpsI (more than 95%), mostly of type-A (71%). One CC1 strain (S. agalactiae HRC) was deep-sequenced to understand the rationale underlying type-A IMESag-rpsI enrichment in GBS. Thirteen open reading frames were identified, one of them encoding a protein (MobSag) belonging to the broadly distributed family of relaxases MOBV1. Protein MobSag was purified and, by a newly developed method, shown to cleave DNA at a specific dinucleotide. The S. agalactiae HRC-IMESag-rpsI is able to excise from the chromosome, as shown by the presence of circular intermediates, and it harbours a fully functional mobilization module. Further, the mobSag gene encoded by this mobile element is able to promote plasmid transfer among pneumococcal strains, suggesting that MobSag facilitates the spread of IMESag-rpsI and that this spread would explain the presence of the same IMESag-rpsI type in GBS strains belonging to different CCs.

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“…Other plasmids, termed mobilizable, are incapable of initiating conjugation, but can transfer by using the conjugative apparatus of another plasmid (Zatyka and Thomas, 1998). Mobilizable plasmids are more frequently found in natural environment; therefore, replication and mobilization can be considered as important mechanisms that influence plasmid promiscuity (Fernández-López et al, 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quorum Sensing N-acyl Homoserine Lactones-SdiA Suppresses Escherichia coli-Pseudomonas aeruginosa Conjugation through Inhibiting traI Expression

Lü

Zeng

et al. 2017

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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Conjugation is a key mechanism for horizontal gene transfer and plays an important role in bacterial evolution, especially with respect to antibiotic resistance. However, little is known about the role of donor and recipient cells in regulation of conjugation. Here, using an Escherichia coli (SM10λπ)-Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) conjugation model, we demonstrated that deficiency of lasI/rhlI, genes associated with generation of the quorum sensing signals N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) in PAO1, or deletion of the AHLs receptor SdiA in the donor SM10λπ both facilitated conjugation. When using another AHLs-non-producing E. coli strain EC600 as recipient cells, deficiency of sdiA in donor SM10λπ hardly affect the conjugation. More importantly, in the presence of exogenous AHLs, the conjugation efficiency between SM10λπ and EC600 was dramatically decreased, while deficiency of sdiA in SM10λπ attenuated AHLs-inhibited conjugation. These data suggest the conjugation suppression function of AHLs-SdiA chemical signaling. Further bioinformatics analysis, β-galactosidase reporter system and electrophoretic mobility shift assays characterized the binding site of SdiA on the promoter region of traI gene. Furthermore, deletion of lasI/rhlI or sdiA promoted traI mRNA expression in SM10λπ and PAO1 co-culture system, which was abrogated by AHLs. Collectively, our results provide new insight into an important contribution of quorum sensing system AHLs-SdiA to the networks that regulate conjugation.

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Mobilizable Rolling-Circle Replicating Plasmids from Gram-Positive Bacteria: A Low-Cost Conjugative Transfer

Cited by 24 publications

References 158 publications

An updated view of plasmid conjugation and mobilization inStaphylococcus

An updated view of plasmid conjugation and mobilization inStaphylococcus

Streptococcal group B integrative and mobilizable element IMESag-rpsIencodes a functional relaxase involved in its transfer

Quorum Sensing N-acyl Homoserine Lactones-SdiA Suppresses Escherichia coli-Pseudomonas aeruginosa Conjugation through Inhibiting traI Expression

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