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Published on: November 5, 2014
An abyssal mobilome: viruses, plasmids and vesicles from deep-sea hydrothermal vents
Julien Lossouarn1, Samuel Dupont1, Aurore Gorlas2
1Laboratory of Microbiology of Extreme Environments (LMEE), UMR 6197/UBO/Ifremer/CNRS, IUEM, Place Nicolas Copernic, Technopôle Brest Iroise, 29280, Plouzané, France.
Abstract:
Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as viruses, plasmids, vesicles, gene transfer agents (GTAs), transposons and transpovirions, which collectively represent the mobilome, interact with cellular organisms from all three domains of life, including those thriving in the most extreme environments. While efforts have been made to better understand deep-sea vent microbial ecology, our knowledge of the mobilome associated with prokaryotes inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents remains limited. Here we focus on the abyssal mobilome by reviewing accumulating data on viruses, plasmids and vesicles associated with thermophilic and hyperthermophilic Bacteria and Archaea present in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
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