Mobilization of Chromosomes and Nonconjugative Plasmids by Cointegrative Mechanisms

Reimmann, Cornelia; Haas, Dieter

doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-9357-4_6

Cited by 28 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 293 publications

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“…They most certainly did not differ by the 20-30 kbp that might be expected as a minimum for the size of a second conjugative plasmid. Some mobilizable plasmids transfer by co-integration into conjugative plasmids (Riemmann & Haas, 1993), so there is the possibility that co-integration of a very low weight mobilizable plasmid is responsible for these results, a solution that would also explain the absence of any similar conjugative incN plasmids.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of multi-resistance plasmids in Australian clinical isolates of Escherichia coli

2004

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Plasmids allow the movement of genetic material, including antimicrobial resistance genes, between bacterial species and genera. They frequently mediate resistance to multiple antimicrobials and can result in the acquisition by a pathogen of resistance to all or most clinically relevant antimicrobials. Unfortunately, there are still large gaps in our understanding of how new multi-resistance plasmids evolve. Five Australian clinical institutions collaborated in this study of multi-resistance plasmids in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli. We characterized 72 resistance plasmids in terms of the antimicrobial resistance profile they conferred, their size and their incompatibility group. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms were used to determine the genetic relationships between the plasmids. Relationships between the host cells were determined using multi-locus enzyme electrophoresis. A lack of correlation between the evolutionary history of the host cells and their plasmids suggests that the horizontal transfer of resistance plasmids between strains of E. coli is common. The resistance plasmids were very diverse, with a wide range of resistance profiles and a lack of discrete evolutionary lineages. Multi-resistance plasmids did not evolve via the co-integrative capture of smaller resistance plasmids; rather, the roles of recombination and the horizontal movement of mobile genetic elements appeared to be most important. INTRODUCTIONSince their discovery in the 1950s (Watanabe & Fukasawa, 1960), antimicrobial resistance plasmids have been increasingly associated with both Gram-positive and Gramnegative bacterial infections. Plasmid-associated resistance genes have been discovered for a majority of known antimicrobials, including the quinolones and fluoroquinolones (Hawkey, 2003;Neu, 1992), and it is not uncommon for a single plasmid to simultaneously mediate resistance to five or six antimicrobials. This ability to sequester multiple resistance genes is of particular concern to modern medicine. Levin (1995) made two predictions regarding the evolution of multi-resistance plasmids. Where two incompatible plasmids are simultaneously selected for, he argues that new plasmids will arise by transposition and predicts that the position of resistance genes in otherwise identical plasmids will be highly variable. Where selection for the co-transfer of compatible resistance plasmids is involved, he argues that new multi-resistance plasmids will arise through cointegration and predicts the occurrence of resistance genes in plasmids with multiple replicons that can be identified as the co-integrates of other plasmids.Both co-integration and transposition have been implicated in empirical studies of plasmid evolution (Berg et al., 1998; Bradley et al., 1986;Guessouss et al., 1996;Mitsuhashi et al., 1977;Schwarz et al., 1996;Sohail & Dyke, 1995;Venkatesan et al., 2001;Woodward et al., 1990). However, a range of other mechanisms, including recombination and the acquisition of integron cassettes, have also been observed...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of multi-resistance plasmids in Australian clinical isolates of Escherichia coli

2004

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“…In Staphylococcus aureus, mobilization of the chromosome has been obtained with a conjugative plasmid carrying transposon Tn551, which was also present in the chromosome (Stout & Iandolo, 1990). In the mobilization of chromosomal DNA from BM4242, pIP825 could act by two types of mechanisms : mobilization in cis, implying formation of a co-integrate between a plasmid and the chromosome, or in trans, which could imply the presence of an origin of transfer (oriT) in the transferred DNA (Reimann & Haas, 1993). We favour the former hypothesis since most examples of Conjugative transfer of tet(S) chromosomal mobilization reported in Gram-negative bacteria occur in cis (Reimann & Haas, 1993) and, to the best of our knowledge, chromosomal mobilization in trans was reported only by genetic manipulation, using Tn.5 and mini-Mu derivatives carrying oriTRKZ (Yakobson & Guiney, 1984;Groisman & Casadaban, 1986).…”

Section: B F R a N C O I S M C H A R L E S A N D P C O U R V A Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conjugative transfer of tet(S) between strains of Enterococcus faecalis is associated with the exchange of large fragments of chromosomal DIMA

Francois¹,

Charles

Courvalin

1997

Microbiology

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The tetracycline resistance determinant tet(S) was first detected in antibiotic multiresistant Listeria monocytogenes BM4210 and subsequently in strains of Enterococcus faecalis. Transfer of tet(S) from clinical isolate E. faecalis BM4242 to E. faecalis strains JH2-2 and OGlRF was found to require the presence in the donor strain of the 55 kb conjugative plasmid plP825. Comparison of restriction endonuclease generated maps of the donor, the two recipients, and of four transconjugants indicated that transfer of tet(S) (i) was from chromosome to chromosome, (ii) resulted in the acquisition of an approximately 40 kb element in the same chromosomal region and (iii) was associated with the exchange of large chromosomal fragments. Similar observations were made following conjugal transfer of tet(S) from four other E. faecalis clinical isolates. ~~

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“…The discovery and characterization of Hfr transfer formed the basis of the classic genetic experiments that established the circular genetic map of E. coli. Similar chromosome-mobilizing systems have been used to construct genetic maps of a wide variety of bacteria (Reimmann and Haas, 1993), thus demonstrating one important use of conjugation as a genetic tool. Conjugal transfer of chromosomal DNA differs from transfer of plasmid DNA in several ways.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conjugal transfer of chromosomal DNA in Mycobacterium smegmatis

Parsons

Jankowski

Derbyshire

1998

Molecular Microbiology

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SummaryThe genus Mycobacterium includes the major human pathogens Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae. The development of rational drug treatments for the diseases caused by these and other mycobacteria requires the establishment of basic molecular techniques to determine the genetic basis of pathogenesis and drug resistance. To date, the ability to manipulate and move DNA between mycobacterial strains has relied on the processes of transformation and transduction. Here, we describe a naturally occurring conjugation system present in Mycobacterium smegmatis, which we anticipate will further facilitate the ability to manipulate the mycobacterial genome. Our data rule out transduction and transformation as possible mechanisms of gene transfer in this system and are most consistent with conjugal transfer. We show that recombinants are not the result of cell fusion and that transfer occurs from a distinct donor to a recipient. One of the donor strains is mc 2 155, a highly transformable derivative that is considered the prototype laboratory strain for mycobacterial genetics; the demonstration that it is conjugative should increase its genetic manipulability dramatically. During conjugation, extensive regions of chromosomal DNA are transferred into the recipient and then integrated into the recipient chromosome by multiple recombination events. We propose that DNA transfer is occurring by a mechanism similar to Hfr conjugation in Escherichia coli.

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Mobilization of Chromosomes and Nonconjugative Plasmids by Cointegrative Mechanisms

Cited by 28 publications

References 293 publications

Evolution of multi-resistance plasmids in Australian clinical isolates of Escherichia coli

Evolution of multi-resistance plasmids in Australian clinical isolates of Escherichia coli

Conjugative transfer of tet(S) between strains of Enterococcus faecalis is associated with the exchange of large fragments of chromosomal DIMA

Conjugal transfer of chromosomal DNA in Mycobacterium smegmatis

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