Horizontal Gene Transfer, Fitness Costs and Mobility Shape the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes into Experimental Populations of Acinetobacter Baylyi.

ABSTRACT: Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is important for microbial evolution, but how evolutionary forces shape the frequencies of horizontally transferred genetic variants in the absence of strong selection remains an open question. In this study, we evolve laboratory populations of Acinetobacter baylyi (ADP1) with HGT from two clinically relevant strains of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (AB5075 and A9844). We find that DNA can cross the species barrier, even without strong selection, and despite substantial DNA sequence divergence between the two species. Our results confirm previous findings that HGT can drive the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) without selection for that antibiotic, but not for all of the resistance genes present in the donor genome. We quantify the c

SUBMITTER: Sezmis AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9985319 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature