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Related Concept Videos

Plasmids01:28

Plasmids

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Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA molecules found in bacteria, archaea, and some eukaryotic microbes like yeast. These small, circular DNA structures typically contain fewer than 30 genes, although some may exist linearly. Plasmids vary in their number within a cell, known as copy number. Single-copy plasmids are present in one copy per cell and multi-copy plasmids are present in multiple copies, reaching over 100 copies per cell.Plasmids usually replicate independently of the chromosomal DNA...
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Coordination of Gene Expression Processes in Bacteria01:29

Coordination of Gene Expression Processes in Bacteria

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The DNA replication, transcription, and translation processes are intricately coupled in bacteria, allowing efficient gene expression and rapid protein synthesis. While this physical and functional coordination is advantageous, it introduces challenges that bacteria overcome through specific regulatory mechanisms.Coupling of Replication, Transcription, and TranslationThe coupling of replication, transcription, and translation is a hallmark of bacterial gene expression. As the replisome unwinds...
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Repressible Operon: trp Operon01:21

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The trp operon in Escherichia coli exemplifies a repressible operon. It regulates the synthesis of tryptophan through repressor-mediated transcriptional control and attenuation. This dual regulatory mechanism ensures tryptophan biosynthesis occurs only when needed, conserving cellular resources.Structure of the trp OperonThe trp operon consists of five structural genes (trpE, trpD, trpC, trpB, and trpA) that encode enzymes for tryptophan biosynthesis. These genes are transcribed as a single...
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Transduction01:16

Transduction

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Among the three main modes of HGT—transformation, conjugation, and transduction—transduction is unique in that it is mediated by bacteriophages, or bacterial viruses.Transduction occurs in two ways. Generalized transduction occurs during the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage infection. In this process, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells, replicate within them, and ultimately cause cell lysis, releasing newly assembled virions. Occasionally, random fragments of the bacterial genome...
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Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors01:58

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The organization of prokaryotic genes in their genome is notably different from that of eukaryotes. Prokaryotic genes are organized, such that the genes for proteins involved in the same biochemical process or function are located together in groups. This group of genes, along with their regulatory elements, are collectively known as an operon. The functional genes in an operon are transcribed together to give a single strand of mRNA known as polycistronic mRNA.
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Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
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Why do plasmids manipulate the expression of bacterial phenotypes?

Kathryn Billane1, Ellie Harrison1, Duncan Cameron1

  • 1Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|November 29, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Conjugative plasmids are not just for gene transfer; they actively manipulate bacterial phenotypes. These manipulations can enhance host competitiveness or boost plasmid spread, acting as a form of genetic parasitism.

Keywords:
horizontal gene transfermutualismparasitismplasmid

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Conjugative plasmids drive bacterial evolution by transferring traits.
  • Plasmids are increasingly recognized for their role in manipulating host bacterial phenotypes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the phenotypic effects of plasmid acquisition on bacterial hosts.
  • To propose that these effects are plasmid adaptations, not just side effects.
  • To categorize plasmid-mediated effects based on their benefit to plasmid transmission.

Main Methods:

  • Summary of findings from untargeted omics analyses.
  • Distinction of plasmid-mediated phenotypic effects into two classes: vertical and horizontal transmission benefits.

Main Results:

  • Plasmids globally affect host cell phenotypes.
  • Phenotypic effects are categorized by their role in promoting host cell competitiveness (vertical transmission) or plasmid conjugation (horizontal transmission).

Conclusions:

  • Plasmids act as sophisticated genetic parasites, manipulating bacterial hosts for their own propagation.
  • Phenotypic manipulation by plasmids serves to enhance their own transmission and persistence.