Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Antibiotic Selection00:57

Antibiotic Selection

54.6K
Overview
54.6K
Conjugation01:19

Conjugation

23
Conjugation is a form of horizontal gene transfer that primarily occurs in bacteria and some archaea, promoting genetic diversity and adaptation. Bacteria can acquire resistance genes through conjugative plasmids, allowing them to survive antibiotic treatments that would otherwise be lethal. This process involves direct contact between cells through specialized structures such as the sex pilus and is mediated by conjugative plasmids, including the F (fertility) factor.Conjugation requires...
23
Plasmids01:28

Plasmids

24
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...
24
Transduction01:16

Transduction

22
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...
22
Development of Antibiotic Resistance01:30

Development of Antibiotic Resistance

20
Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern that arises when bacteria evolve mechanisms to withstand the effects of antibiotic treatments. This resistance can be intrinsic, acquired through genetic mutations, or transferred between bacteria via horizontal gene transfer. The development of antibiotic resistance poses significant challenges in treating bacterial infections and necessitates ongoing research to develop new therapeutic strategies.Intrinsic resistance occurs when bacterial...
20
Transposons01:24

Transposons

41
Transposons, or "jumping genes," are small mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that range from 700 to 40,000 base pairs in length. They are found in all organisms and can move within the same chromosome or transfer to different chromosomes. In some cases, transposons can also jump between different host DNA molecules, such as plasmids or viruses, contributing to genetic variability.Barbara McClintock first discovered these mobile genetic elements in the 1940s while studying maize genetics, and she...
41

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Strain sharing and persistence of microbial pathogens colonizing the skin of residents in a regional nursing home network.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Response to 'On using clustering statistics for assessing plasmid binning tools accuracy'.

Briefings in bioinformatics·2026
Same author

Predicted meta-omics: A potential solution to multi-omics data scarcity in microbiome studies.

PloS one·2026
Same author

Circling in on plasmids: benchmarking plasmid detection and reconstruction tools for short-read data from diverse species.

Briefings in bioinformatics·2025
Same author

Circling in on plasmids: benchmarking plasmid detection and reconstruction tools for short-read data from diverse species.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Jaxkineticmodel: Neural ordinary differential equations inspired parameterization of kinetic models.

PLoS computational biology·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 14, 2025

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli
06:56

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli

Published on: March 24, 2023

5.5K

SHIP: identifying antimicrobial resistance gene transfer between plasmids.

Marco Teixeira1,2,3, Stephanie Pillay3, Aysun Urhan3,4

  • 1Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto 4200-465, Portugal.

Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
|October 5, 2023
PubMed
Summary

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene transfer between plasmids is hard to track. A new method, SHIP, identifies conserved AMR gene fragments across diverse plasmids, revealing their mobilization and spread.

More Related Videos

Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
09:00

Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

Published on: May 2, 2018

11.7K
Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach
12:32

Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach

Published on: December 14, 2019

14.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 14, 2025

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli
06:56

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli

Published on: March 24, 2023

5.5K
Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
09:00

Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

Published on: May 2, 2018

11.7K
Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach
12:32

Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach

Published on: December 14, 2019

14.0K

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Genetics
  • Bioinformatics

Background:

  • Plasmids are key vectors for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, facilitating their spread.
  • Current methods lack reliability in identifying AMR gene transfer across plasmids due to high DNA sequence variability and lack of phylogenetic assessment.
  • Understanding plasmid evolution and gene transfer is crucial for combating AMR.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a novel method for quantifying plasmid similarity and identifying AMR gene transfer.
  • To investigate the role of mobile genetic elements and plasmid regions in AMR dissemination.

Main Methods:

  • Developed SHIP (Similarity of mobile genetic elements based on plasmid evolution), a novel computational method to assess plasmid similarity.
  • Analyzed plasmid DNA sequences to identify conserved fragments and evidence of lateral gene transfer.
  • Investigated the mechanisms of gene transfer, including transposons, integrons, and recombination.

Main Results:

  • Identified conserved fragments containing AMR genes in structurally different and phylogenetically distant plasmids, indicating lateral transfer.
  • Demonstrated that AMR gene regions are highly mobilizable between plasmids via mobile genetic elements and recombination.
  • Found specific examples of transferred fragments, including a complex class 1 integron and a tetracycline resistance region.

Conclusions:

  • The SHIP method provides a reliable approach to quantify plasmid similarity and detect AMR gene transfer.
  • AMR genes are actively mobilized between plasmids, contributing significantly to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
  • This work offers novel insights into the evolutionary dynamics of plasmids and AMR dissemination.