Crosstalk between vertical and horizontal gene transfer: plasmid replication control by a conjugative relaxase.

ABSTRACT: Horizontal gene transfer is a key process in the evolution of bacteria and also represents a source of genetic variation in eukaryotes. Among elements participating in gene transfer, thousands of small (<10 kb) mobile bacterial plasmids that replicate by the rolling circle mechanism represent a driving force in the spread of antibiotic resistances. In general, these plasmids are built as genetic modules that encode a replicase, an antibiotic-resistance determinant, and a relaxase that participates in their conjugative mobilization. Further, they control their relatively high copy number (∼30 copies per genome equivalent) by antisense RNAs alone or combined with a repressor protein. We report here that the MobM conjugative relaxase encoded by the promiscuous plasmid pMV158 participates in r

SUBMITTER: Lorenzo-Diaz F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5737340 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature