Where the plasmids roam: large-scale sequence analysis reveals plasmids with large host ranges.

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Genetics
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Plasmids facilitate genetic exchange among bacteria, crucial for fields like plasmid epidemiology and synthetic microbiology.
• Broad-host-range (BHR) plasmids are significant due to their presence across diverse bacterial taxa, attracting research interest.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and apply a novel computational approach for identifying new broad-host-range (BHR) plasmids.
• To investigate the taxonomic distribution and potential commercial significance of identified BHR plasmids.

Main Methods:

• A computational strategy was employed to identify BHR plasmids by searching for highly similar cognate plasmids within a comprehensive plasmid database.
• Analysis focused on plasmid groups with cognates found in multiple bacterial taxa, particularly those spanning different families.

Main Results:

• Identified 125 plasmid groups with highly similar cognates across multiple taxa.
• The majority of identified BHR plasmids were found in Enterobacteriaceae and related bacteria.
• Three BHR plasmids of potential commercial interest were identified in Cyanobacteria, and one plasmid showed an exceptionally broad host range across Gram-positive and Gram-negative species.

Conclusions:

• The computational method is effective for discovering novel BHR plasmids.
• The study reveals previously unrecognized host ranges for documented plasmids and highlights BHR plasmids with potential commercial applications.