TY - JOUR
T1 - Biofilms can act as plasmid reserves in the absence of plasmid specific selection
AU - Røder, Henriette Lyng
AU - Trivedi, Urvish
AU - Russel, Jakob
AU - Kragh, Kasper Nørskov
AU - Herschend, Jakob
AU - Thalsø-Madsen, Ida
AU - Tolker-Nielsen, Tim
AU - Bjarnsholt, Thomas
AU - Burmølle, Mette
AU - Madsen, Jonas Stenløkke
N1 - © 2021. The Author(s).
PY - 2021/10/7
Y1 - 2021/10/7
N2 - Plasmids facilitate rapid bacterial adaptation by shuttling a wide variety of beneficial traits across microbial communities. However, under non-selective conditions, maintaining a plasmid can be costly to the host cell. Nonetheless, plasmids are ubiquitous in nature where bacteria adopt their dominant mode of life - biofilms. Here, we demonstrate that biofilms can act as spatiotemporal reserves for plasmids, allowing them to persist even under non-selective conditions. However, under these conditions, spatial stratification of plasmid-carrying cells may promote the dispersal of cells without plasmids, and biofilms may thus act as plasmid sinks.
AB - Plasmids facilitate rapid bacterial adaptation by shuttling a wide variety of beneficial traits across microbial communities. However, under non-selective conditions, maintaining a plasmid can be costly to the host cell. Nonetheless, plasmids are ubiquitous in nature where bacteria adopt their dominant mode of life - biofilms. Here, we demonstrate that biofilms can act as spatiotemporal reserves for plasmids, allowing them to persist even under non-selective conditions. However, under these conditions, spatial stratification of plasmid-carrying cells may promote the dispersal of cells without plasmids, and biofilms may thus act as plasmid sinks.
KW - Adaptation, Physiological
KW - Bacteria/genetics
KW - Biofilms
KW - Microbiota
KW - Plasmids/genetics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116542506&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41522-021-00249-w
DO - 10.1038/s41522-021-00249-w
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34620879
SN - 2055-5008
VL - 7
SP - 78
JO - NPJ biofilms and microbiomes
JF - NPJ biofilms and microbiomes
IS - 1
M1 - 78
ER -