Plasmids of psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria and their role in adaptation to cold environments.

ABSTRACT: Extremely cold environments are a challenge for all organisms. They are mostly inhabited by psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria, which employ various strategies to cope with the cold. Such harsh environments are often highly vulnerable to the influence of external factors and may undergo frequent dynamic changes. The rapid adjustment of bacteria to changing environmental conditions is crucial for their survival. Such "short-term" evolution is often enabled by plasmids-extrachromosomal replicons that represent major players in horizontal gene transfer. The genomic sequences of thousands of microorganisms, including those of many cold-active bacteria have been obtained over the last decade, but the collected data have yet to be thoroughly analyzed. This report describes the results of

SUBMITTER: Dziewit L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4224046 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature