Conjugative transfer of R plasmids between Escherichia coli strains on saline selective media and in seawater

Fluidized muds: a novel setting for the generation of biosphere diversity through geologic time

Reworked and fluidized fine-grained deposits in energetic settings are a major modern-day feature of river deltas and estuaries. Similar environments were probably settings for microbial evolution on the early Earth. These sedimentary systems act as efficient biogeochemical reactors with high bacterial phylogenetic diversity and functional redundancy. They are temporally rather than spatially structured, with repeated cycling of redox conditions and successive stages of microbial metabolic processes. Intense reworking of the fluidized bed entrains bacteria from varied habitats providing new, diverse genetic materials to contribute to horizontal gene transfer events and the creation of new bacterial ecotypes. These vast mud environments may act as exporters and promoters of biosphere diversity and novel adaptations, potentially on a globally important scale.

Recombinant plasmid mobilization between E. coli strains in seven sterile microcosms

Transfer by mobilization of a pBR derivative recombinant plasmid lacking transfer functions (oriT+, tra-, mob-) from one E. coli K12 strain to another was investigated in seven sterile microcosms corresponding to different environments. These microcosms were chosen as representative of environments that genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMOs) encounter after accidental release, namely attached biomass in aquatic environments (biofilm), soil, seawater, freshwater, wastewater, mouse gut, and mussel gut, GEMOs survived in the same way as the host strains in all microcosms. Recombinant DNA mobilization occurred in the mouse gut, in sterile soil, and in biofilm. The plasmid transfer rates principally reflected the environmental conditions encountered in each microcosm.