Crosstalk Between Type VI Secretion System and Mobile Genetic Elements
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Updated: Sep 7, 2026

Site-specific Bacterial Chromosome Engineering: ΦC31 Integrase Mediated Cassette Exchange (IMCE)
Published on: March 16, 2012
Arancha Peñil-Celis1, M Pilar Garcillán-Barcia1
1Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotecnología de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Santander, Spain.
Abstract:
Many bacterial processes require cell-cell contacts. Such are the cases of bacterial conjugation, one of the main horizontal gene transfer mechanisms that physically spreads DNA, and the type VI secretion systems (T6SSs), which deploy antibacterial activity. Bacteria depend on conjugation to adapt to changing environments, while T6SS killing activity could pose a threat to mating partners. Here we review the experimental evidences of overlapping and interaction between the T6SSs, bacterial conjugation, and conjugative genetic elements.
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