Broad host range plasmids can invade an unexpectedly diverse fraction of a soil bacterial community

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Uli Klümper - , Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (Author)
  • Leise Riber - , University of Copenhagen (Author)
  • Arnaud Dechesne - , Technical University of Denmark (Author)
  • Analia Sannazzarro - , University of Copenhagen (Author)
  • Lars H. Hansen - , University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University (Author)
  • Søren J. Sørensen - , University of Copenhagen (Author)
  • Barth F. Smets - , Technical University of Denmark (Author)

Abstract

Conjugal plasmids can provide microbes with full complements of new genes and constitute potent vehicles for horizontal gene transfer. Conjugal plasmid transfer is deemed responsible for the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance among microbes. While broad host range plasmids are known to transfer to diverse hosts in pure culture, the extent of their ability to transfer in the complex bacterial communities present in most habitats has not been comprehensively studied. Here, we isolated and characterized transconjugants with a degree of sensitivity not previously realized to investigate the transfer range of IncP-And IncPromA-type broad host range plasmids from three proteobacterial donors to a soil bacterial community. We identified transfer to many different recipients belonging to 11 different bacterial phyla. The prevalence of transconjugants belonging to diverse Gram-positive Firmicutes and Actinobacteria suggests that inter-Gram plasmid transfer of IncP-1 and IncPromA-type plasmids is a frequent phenomenon. While the plasmid receiving fractions of the community were both plasmid-And donor-dependent, we identified a core super-permissive fraction that could take up different plasmids from diverse donor strains. This fraction, comprising 80% of the identified transconjugants, thus has the potential to dominate IncP-And IncPromA-type plasmid transfer in soil. Our results demonstrate that these broad host range plasmids have a hitherto unrecognized potential to transfer readily to very diverse bacteria and can, therefore, directly connect large proportions of the soil bacterial gene pool. This finding reinforces the evolutionary and medical significances of these plasmids.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)934-945
Number of pages12
JournalISME Journal
Volume9
Publication statusPublished - 17 Mar 2015
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

PubMed 25333461
ORCID /0000-0002-4169-6548/work/142247360

Keywords