Interspecific competition can drive plasmid loss from a focal species in a microbial community.

ABSTRACT: Plasmids are key disseminators of antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence factors, and it is therefore critical to predict and reduce plasmid spread within microbial communities. The cost of plasmid carriage is a key metric that can be used to predict plasmids' ecological fate, and it is unclear whether plasmid costs are affected by growth partners in a microbial community. We carried out competition experiments and tracked plasmid maintenance using a model system consisting of a synthetic and stable five-species community and a broad host-range plasmid, engineered to carry different payloads. We report that both the cost of plasmid carriage and its long-term maintenance in a focal strain depended on the presence of competitors, and that these interactions were species specific. Addit

SUBMITTER: Sunderhauf D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10504238 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature