Microcin C51 Plasmid Genes: Possible Source of Horizontal Gene Transfer

Microcin C51 plasmid genes: possible source of horizontal gene transfer.

Microcin C51 (MccC51) is an antimicrobial nucleotide-heptapeptide produced by a natural Escherichia coli strain. A 5.7-kb fragment of the pC51 plasmid carrying the genes involved in MccC51 production, secretion, and self-immunity was sequenced, and the genes were characterized. The sequence of the MccC51 gene cluster is highly similar to that of the MccC7 gene. Recombinant plasmids carrying dif...

Horizontal gene transfer: evidence and possible consequences.

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 237 TRANSFERS INVOLVING EUKARYOTES 239 Phylogenetic Congruency Test 239 Pitfalls Involving Paralogies 241 Pitfalls Involving Unequal Razes 242 Convergent Replacements 243 Tests of Significance 244 MOBILE GENETIC ELEMENTS 244 CHROMOSOMAL GENES IN BACTERIA 245 Mosaic Nature of the E. coli chromosome 245 Salmonella and the Criteria of GC Content 247 Codon Bias 249 Other Bacte...

Synthetic Fatty Acids Prevent Plasmid-Mediated Horizontal Gene Transfer

UNLABELLED Bacterial conjugation constitutes a major horizontal gene transfer mechanism for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among human pathogens. Antibiotic resistance spread could be halted or diminished by molecules that interfere with the conjugation process. In this work, synthetic 2-alkynoic fatty acids were identified as a novel class of conjugation inhibitors. Their che...

Plasmid - mediated horizontal gene transfer is a coevolutionary process 1

Plasmid-mediated horizontal gene transfer is a coevolutionary process.

Conjugative plasmids are key agents of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) that accelerate bacterial adaptation by vectoring ecologically important traits between strains and species. However, although many conjugative plasmids carry beneficial traits, all plasmids exert physiological costs-of-carriage on bacteria. The existence of conjugative plasmids, therefore, presents a paradox because non-bene...