Molecular Mechanisms Influencing Bacterial Conjugation in the Intestinal Microbiota

Overview

Journal Front Microbiol

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2021 Jun 21

PMID 34149661

Citations 23

Authors

Kevin Neil

Nancy Allard

Sebastien Rodrigue

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Bacterial conjugation is a widespread and particularly efficient strategy to horizontally disseminate genes in microbial populations. With a rich and dense population of microorganisms, the intestinal microbiota is often considered a fertile environment for conjugative transfer and a major reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes. In this mini-review, we summarize recent findings suggesting that few conjugative plasmid families present in transfer at high rates in the gut microbiota. We discuss the importance of mating pair stabilization as well as additional factors influencing DNA transfer efficiency and conjugative host range in this environment. Finally, we examine the potential repurposing of bacterial conjugation for microbiome editing.

Citing Articles

Type IV pili of species.

Little J, Singh P, Zhao J, Dunn S, Matz H, Donnenberg M EcoSal Plus. 2024; 12(1):eesp00032023.

PMID: 38294234 PMC: 11636386. DOI: 10.1128/ecosalplus.esp-0003-2023.

Systematic investigation of recipient cell genetic requirements reveals important surface receptors for conjugative transfer of IncI2 plasmids.

Allard N, Collette A, Paquette J, Rodrigue S, Cote J Commun Biol. 2023; 6(1):1172.

PMID: 37973843 PMC: 10654706. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05534-2.

Engineering conjugative CRISPR-Cas9 systems for the targeted control of enteric pathogens and antibiotic resistance.

Sheng H, Wu S, Xue Y, Zhao W, Caplan A, Hovde C PLoS One. 2023; 18(9):e0291520.

PMID: 37699034 PMC: 10497133. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291520.

Plasmids pick a bacterial partner before committing to conjugation.

Frankel G, David S, Low W, Seddon C, Wong J, Beis K Nucleic Acids Res. 2023; 51(17):8925-8933.

PMID: 37592747 PMC: 10516633. DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad678.

Interference with Bacterial Conjugation and Natural Alternatives to Antibiotics: Bridging a Gap.

Guidotti-Takeuchi M, de Melo R, Ribeiro L, Dumont C, Ribeiro R, Brum B Antibiotics (Basel). 2023; 12(7).

PMID: 37508224 PMC: 10376302. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12071127.

References

Sun J, Li X, Yang R, Fang L, Huo W, Li S . Complete Nucleotide Sequence of an IncI2 Plasmid Coharboring blaCTX-M-55 and mcr-1. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2016; 60(8):5014-7. PMC: 4958226. DOI: 10.1128/AAC.00774-16. View

Dantas Machado A, Sommer M . Human intestinal cells modulate conjugational transfer of multidrug resistance plasmids between clinical Escherichia coli isolates. PLoS One. 2014; 9(6):e100739. PMC: 4067368. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100739. View

Dwidar M, Monnappa A, Mitchell R . The dual probiotic and antibiotic nature of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. BMB Rep. 2012; 45(2):71-8. DOI: 10.5483/BMBRep.2012.45.2.71. View

Licht T, Christensen B, Krogfelt K, Molin S . Plasmid transfer in the animal intestine and other dynamic bacterial populations: the role of community structure and environment. Microbiology (Reading). 1999; 145 ( Pt 9):2615-2622. DOI: 10.1099/00221287-145-9-2615. View

Aviv G, Rahav G, Gal-Mor O . Horizontal Transfer of the Salmonella enterica Serovar Infantis Resistance and Virulence Plasmid pESI to the Gut Microbiota of Warm-Blooded Hosts. mBio. 2016; 7(5. PMC: 5013300. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01395-16. View

Soucy S, Huang J, Gogarten J . Horizontal gene transfer: building the web of life. Nat Rev Genet. 2015; 16(8):472-82. DOI: 10.1038/nrg3962. View

Doucet-Populaire F, Trieu-Cuot P, Andremont A, Courvalin P . Conjugal transfer of plasmid DNA from Enterococcus faecalis to Escherichia coli in digestive tracts of gnotobiotic mice. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1992; 36(2):502-4. PMC: 188470. DOI: 10.1128/AAC.36.2.502. View

Citorik R, Mimee M, Lu T . Sequence-specific antimicrobials using efficiently delivered RNA-guided nucleases. Nat Biotechnol. 2014; 32(11):1141-5. PMC: 4237163. DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3011. View

Klimke W, Rypien C, Klinger B, Kennedy R, Rodriguez-Maillard J, Frost L . The mating pair stabilization protein, TraN, of the F plasmid is an outer-membrane protein with two regions that are important for its function in conjugation. Microbiology (Reading). 2005; 151(Pt 11):3527-3540. DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.28025-0. View

10.

Ellison C, Kan J, Chlebek J, Hummels K, Panis G, Viollier P . A bifunctional ATPase drives tad pilus extension and retraction. Sci Adv. 2020; 5(12):eaay2591. PMC: 6920026. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay2591. View

11.

Arutyunov D, Frost L . F conjugation: back to the beginning. Plasmid. 2013; 70(1):18-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.plasmid.2013.03.010. View

12.

Krol J, Wojtowicz A, Rogers L, Heuer H, Smalla K, Krone S . Invasion of E. coli biofilms by antibiotic resistance plasmids. Plasmid. 2013; 70(1):110-9. PMC: 3687034. DOI: 10.1016/j.plasmid.2013.03.003. View

13.

Liu L, Chen X, Skogerbo G, Zhang P, Chen R, He S . The human microbiome: a hot spot of microbial horizontal gene transfer. Genomics. 2012; 100(5):265-70. DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2012.07.012. View

14.

Palleja A, Mikkelsen K, Forslund S, Kashani A, Allin K, Nielsen T . Recovery of gut microbiota of healthy adults following antibiotic exposure. Nat Microbiol. 2018; 3(11):1255-1265. DOI: 10.1038/s41564-018-0257-9. View

15.

Cabezon E, de la Cruz F, Arechaga I . Conjugation Inhibitors and Their Potential Use to Prevent Dissemination of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Bacteria. Front Microbiol. 2017; 8:2329. PMC: 5723004. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02329. View

16.

Lim Y, de Groof A, Bhattacharjee M, Figurski D, Schon E . Bacterial conjugation in the cytoplasm of mouse cells. Infect Immun. 2008; 76(11):5110-9. PMC: 2573342. DOI: 10.1128/IAI.00445-08. View

17.

Gasson M, Willetts N . Further characterization of the F fertility inhibition systems of "unusual" Fin+ plasmids. J Bacteriol. 1977; 131(2):413-20. PMC: 235446. DOI: 10.1128/jb.131.2.413-420.1977. View

18.

Ham L, Skurray R . Molecular analysis and nucleotide sequence of finQ, a transcriptional inhibitor of the F plasmid transfer genes. Mol Gen Genet. 1989; 216(1):99-105. DOI: 10.1007/BF00332236. View

19.

Duval-Iflah Y, Raibaud P, Tancrede C, Rousseau M . R-plasmic transfer from Serratia liquefaciens to Escherichia coli in vitro and in vivo in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic mice associated with human fecal flora. Infect Immun. 1980; 28(3):981-90. PMC: 551047. DOI: 10.1128/iai.28.3.981-990.1980. View

20.

Rask Licht T, Laugesen D, Jensen L, Jacobsen B . Transfer of the pheromone-inducible plasmid pCF10 among Enterococcus faecalis microorganisms colonizing the intestine of mini-pigs. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2002; 68(1):187-93. PMC: 126546. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.1.187-193.2002. View