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Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli
Published on: March 24, 2023
Host- plasmid network structure in wastewater is linked to antimicrobial resistance genes
Alice Risely1, Arthur Newbury2,3, Thibault Stalder4,5
1School of Science, Engineering, and Environment, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, UK.
Abstract:
As mobile genetic elements, plasmids are central for our understanding of antimicrobial resistance spread in microbial communities. Plasmids can have varying fitness effects on their host bacteria, which will markedly impact their role as antimicrobial resistance vectors. Using a plasmid population model, we first show that beneficial plasmids interact with a higher number of hosts than costly plasmids when embedded in a community with multiple hosts and plasmids. We then analyse the network of a natural host-plasmid wastewater community from a Hi-C metagenomics dataset. As predicted by the model, we find that antimicrobial resistance encoding plasmids, which are likely to have positive fitness effects on their hosts in wastewater, interact with more bacterial taxa than non-antimicrobial resistance plasmids and are disproportionally important for connecting the entire network compared to non- antimicrobial resistance plasmids. This highlights the role of antimicrobials in restructuring host-plasmid networks by increasing the benefits of antimicrobial resistance carrying plasmids, which can have consequences for the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes through microbial networks. Furthermore, that antimicrobial resistance encoding plasmids are associated with a broader range of hosts implies that they will be more robust to turnover of bacterial strains.
Insights
Beneficial plasmids, especially those conferring antimicrobial resistance, connect with more bacterial hosts. This highlights how antimicrobials reshape microbial networks, impacting resistance gene spread and plasmid robustness.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Ecology
Background:
- Plasmids are mobile genetic elements crucial for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread in microbial communities.
- The fitness effects of plasmids on host bacteria significantly influence their role as AMR vectors.
- Understanding host-plasmid interactions is key to predicting AMR dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model the interaction dynamics between plasmids and hosts based on plasmid fitness effects.
- To analyze the structure of a natural host-plasmid network in wastewater using metagenomics data.
- To investigate the role of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) encoding plasmids in microbial community networks.
Main Methods:
- Developed a plasmid population model to simulate host-plasmid interactions under varying fitness costs/benefits.
- Analyzed a Hi-C metagenomics dataset from a wastewater microbial community to map host-plasmid interactions.
- Compared interaction networks of AMR-encoding plasmids versus non-AMR plasmids.
Main Results:
- Beneficial plasmids interact with more hosts than costly plasmids in modeled communities.
- In the wastewater community, AMR-encoding plasmids interact with a broader range of bacterial taxa compared to non-AMR plasmids.
- AMR plasmids are disproportionately important for network connectivity, suggesting enhanced robustness and spread potential.
Conclusions:
- Antimicrobials restructure host-plasmid networks by increasing the benefits of AMR plasmids.
- AMR plasmids' broader host interactions have significant implications for the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes.
- AMR plasmids are likely more resilient to bacterial strain turnover due to their wider host associations.
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