The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities

By transferring ecologically important traits between species, plasmids drive genomic divergence and evolutionary innovation in their bacterial hosts. Bacterial communities are often diverse and contain multiple coexisting plasmids, but the dynamics of plasmids in multi-species communities are poorl...

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Autores principales: Kottara, Anastasia, Carrilero, Laura, Harrison, Ellie, Hall, James P. J., Brockhurst, Michael A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Microbiology Society 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8549239/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34494951
http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001086
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author Kottara, Anastasia
Carrilero, Laura
Harrison, Ellie
Hall, James P. J.
Brockhurst, Michael A.
author_facet Kottara, Anastasia
Carrilero, Laura
Harrison, Ellie
Hall, James P. J.
Brockhurst, Michael A.
author_sort Kottara, Anastasia
collection PubMed
description By transferring ecologically important traits between species, plasmids drive genomic divergence and evolutionary innovation in their bacterial hosts. Bacterial communities are often diverse and contain multiple coexisting plasmids, but the dynamics of plasmids in multi-species communities are poorly understood. Here, we show, using experimental multi-species communities containing two plasmids, that bacterial diversity limits the horizontal transmission of plasmids due to the ‘dilution effect’; this is an epidemiological phenomenon whereby living alongside less proficient host species reduces the expected infection risk for a focal host species. In addition, plasmid horizontal transmission was also affected by plasmid diversity, such that the rate of plasmid conjugation was reduced from co-infected host cells carrying both plasmids. In diverse microbial communities, plasmid spread may be limited by the dilution effect and plasmid–plasmid interactions, reducing the rate of horizontal transmission.
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spelling pubmed-85492392021-10-28 The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities Kottara, Anastasia Carrilero, Laura Harrison, Ellie Hall, James P. J. Brockhurst, Michael A. Microbiology (Reading) Microbial Interactions and Communities By transferring ecologically important traits between species, plasmids drive genomic divergence and evolutionary innovation in their bacterial hosts. Bacterial communities are often diverse and contain multiple coexisting plasmids, but the dynamics of plasmids in multi-species communities are poorly understood. Here, we show, using experimental multi-species communities containing two plasmids, that bacterial diversity limits the horizontal transmission of plasmids due to the ‘dilution effect’; this is an epidemiological phenomenon whereby living alongside less proficient host species reduces the expected infection risk for a focal host species. In addition, plasmid horizontal transmission was also affected by plasmid diversity, such that the rate of plasmid conjugation was reduced from co-infected host cells carrying both plasmids. In diverse microbial communities, plasmid spread may be limited by the dilution effect and plasmid–plasmid interactions, reducing the rate of horizontal transmission. Microbiology Society 2021-09-08 /pmc/articles/PMC8549239/ /pubmed/34494951 http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001086 Text en © 2021 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
spellingShingle Microbial Interactions and Communities
Kottara, Anastasia
Carrilero, Laura
Harrison, Ellie
Hall, James P. J.
Brockhurst, Michael A.
The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities
title The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities
title_full The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities
title_fullStr The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities
title_full_unstemmed The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities
title_short The dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities
title_sort dilution effect limits plasmid horizontal transmission in multispecies bacterial communities
topic Microbial Interactions and Communities
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8549239/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34494951
http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001086
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