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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 12, 2026

Screening Foodstuffs for Class 1 Integrons and Gene Cassettes

Screening Foodstuffs for Class 1 Integrons and Gene Cassettes

Published on: June 19, 2015

Mobile antibiotic resistance encoding elements promote their own diversity.

Geneviève Garriss¹, Matthew K Waldor, Vincent Burrus

¹Centre d'Etude et de Valorisation de la Diversité Microbienne (CEVDM), Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.

|December 19, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Integrating conjugative elements (ICEs) generate diversity through recombination, creating new antibiotic resistance gene combinations. This process is facilitated by host and ICE genes, promoting bacterial evolution.

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Area of Science:

Microbiology
Genetics
Molecular Biology

Background:

Integrating conjugative elements (ICEs) are mobile genetic elements that integrate into bacterial genomes and spread antibiotic resistance genes.
The SXT/R391 ICE family shares an integration site but encodes diverse properties, impacting gram-negative bacteria like Vibrio cholerae.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the role of inter-ICE recombination in shaping SXT/R391 ICE genomes.
Identify genetic factors mediating the formation of hybrid ICEs.

Main Methods:

Comparative genomic analysis of SXT/R391 ICEs.
Development of a high-throughput semi-quantitative method to study hybrid ICE formation.
Analysis of host (recA) and ICE (s065, s066) loci involvement.

Main Results:

Evidence of inter-ICE recombination shaping SXT/R391 ICE genomes.
Hybrid ICE formation is frequent and depends on host recA and ICE s065/s066 loci.
The s065/s066 system is a novel Red-like recombination pathway in conjugative elements.
Conjugation aids hybrid ICE segregation and selection, not essential for formation.

Conclusions:

ICEs actively promote their own diversity through recombination.
Novel mobile elements with new antibiotic resistance gene combinations can arise from ICE recombination.
This mechanism contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.