Spatial Mapping of Mobile Genetic Elements and their Cognate Hosts in Complex Microbiomes.

ABSTRACT: The frequent exchange of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) between bacteria accelerates the spread of functional traits, including antimicrobial resistance, within the human microbiome. Yet, progress in understanding these intricate processes has been hindered by the lack of tools to map the spatial spread of MGEs in complex microbial communities, and to associate MGEs to their bacterial hosts. To overcome this challenge, we present an imaging approach that pairs single molecule DNA Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) with multiplexed ribosomal RNA FISH, thereby enabling the simultaneous visualization of both MGEs and host bacterial taxa. We used this methodology to spatially map bacteriophage and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) plasmids in human oral biofilms, and we studied the heterog

SUBMITTER: Grodner B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10274929 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature