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Plasmid Interactions Can Improve Plasmid Persistence in Bacterial Populations.
João Alves Gama1, Rita Zilhão2, Francisco Dionisio2,3
1Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|September 28, 2020
Summary
Interactions between multiple plasmids, particularly those affecting host fitness and conjugation, can promote plasmid persistence in bacterial communities, even without selection. These interactions are key to understanding plasmid stability.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Computational Biology
Background:
- Plasmid maintenance without selection is challenging due to fitness costs and imperfect segregation.
- Previous studies primarily focused on single plasmids, overlooking complex interactions in multi-plasmid systems.
- Interactions between co-residing plasmids can significantly influence their transmission and stability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how interactions among multiple plasmids affect their maintenance in bacterial populations.
- To adapt mathematical models to simulate multi-plasmid dynamics and assess interaction effects.
- To determine the relative importance of different interaction types (fitness, conjugation, loss) on plasmid persistence.
Main Methods:
- Mathematical modeling and computer simulations were employed.
- Simulations incorporated parameters for host fitness, conjugative transfer (intracellular/intercellular), and plasmid loss.
- The study analyzed the impact of individual and combined plasmid interactions.
Main Results:
- Interactions affecting host fitness (epistasis) were crucial in preventing plasmid extinction.
- Intracellular interactions enhancing conjugative efficiency delayed plasmid loss but did not ensure maintenance alone.
- Combined interactions, especially those influencing conjugation and fitness, led to plasmid maintenance in some scenarios.
- A hierarchy of interaction impact was observed: fitness > conjugation > loss.
Conclusions:
- Interactions between plasmids can significantly enhance their persistence in bacterial communities.
- Fitness and conjugation interactions play a more critical role than plasmid loss in promoting stability.
- Understanding multi-plasmid dynamics is essential for predicting bacterial community composition and function.
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