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Updated: Aug 22, 2025

Methodology for the Study of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Staphylococcus aureus
Published on: March 10, 2017
A chromosome-encoded T4SS independently contributes to horizontal gene transfer in Enterococcus faecalis
Mingxi Hua1, Dongfa Dai2, Pengcheng Du2
1Biomedical Innovation Center, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China; Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
Abstract:
Bacterial type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) are the specific devices that mediate the dissemination of antibiotic resistant genes via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Multi-drug-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) represents a clinical public health threat because of its transferable plasmid with a functional plasmid-encoded (PE)-T4SS. Here, we report a chromosome-encoded (CE)-T4SS that exists in 40% of E. faecalis isolates. Compared with the PE-T4SS, CE-T4SS displays distinct characteristics in protein architecture and is capable of mediating large and genome-wide gene transfer in an imprecise manner. Reciprocal exchange of CE-T4SS- or PE-T4SS-associated origin of transfer (oriT) could disrupt HGT function, indicating that CE-T4SS is an independent system compared with PE-T4SS. Taken together, the CE-T4SS sheds light on the knowledge of HGT in gram-positive bacteria and triggers us to explore more evolutionary mechanisms in E. faecalis.
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