Horizontal gene transfer is central to bacterial adaptation and is facilitated by mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Increasingly, MGEs are being studied as agents with their own interests and adaptations, and the interactions MGEs have with one another are recognised as having a powerful effect on the flow of traits between microbes. Collaborations and conflicts between MGEs are nuanced and can both promote and inhibit the acquisition of new genetic material, shaping the maintenance of newly acquired genes and the dissemination of important adaptive traits through microbiomes. We review recent studies that shed light on this dynamic and oftentimes interlaced interplay, highlighting the importance of genome defence systems in mediating MGE-MGE conflicts, and outlining the consequences for evolutionary change, that resonate from the molecular to microbiome and ecosystem levels.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2023.102282 | DOI Listing |
Adv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
Despite advances in dispersal mechanisms and risk assessment of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), how plants influence ARG contamination in agricultural soils remains underexplored. Here, the impacts of plant species and diversity on ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in three agricultural soils are comprehensively investigated in a pot experiment. The results indicate that increased plant diversity reduces ARGs and MGEs abundance by 19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFmBio
January 2025
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Unlabelled: Bacterial typing at whole-genome scales is now feasible owing to decreasing costs in high-throughput sequencing and the recent advances in computation. The unprecedented resolution of whole-genome typing is achieved by genotyping the variable segments of bacterial genomes that can fluctuate significantly in gene content. However, due to the transient and hypervariable nature of many accessory elements, the value of the added resolution in outbreak investigations remains disputed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Immunol
January 2025
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, United States.
Introduction: Powassan virus (POWV), a vector-borne pathogen transmitted by ticks in North America, is the causative agent of Powassan encephalitis. As obligate hematophagous organisms, ticks transmit pathogens like POWV at the tick bite site, specifically during the initial stages of feeding. Tick feeding and salivary factors modulate the host's immunological responses, facilitating blood feeding and pathogen transmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropsychiatr Dis Treat
January 2025
Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, 272029, People's Republic of China.
Background: The clinical pictures of essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are often quite mimic at the early stage, and longstanding ET may ultimately develop to PD, that is, PD with "antecedent ET". Early diagnosis and differentiation of the two are essential for predicting disease progression and formulating individualized treatment plans. However, current approaches remain challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Microbiol
January 2025
School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in soil is an ancient phenomenon with widespread spatial presence in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the natural processes shaping the temporal dissemination of AMR in soils are not well understood. We aimed to determine whether, how, and why AMR varies with soil age in recently deglaciated pioneer and developing Arctic soils using a space-for-time approach.
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