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Gu Q, Zhu X, Yu Y, Jiang T, Pan Z, Ma J, Yao H. Type II and IV toxin-antitoxin systems coordinately stabilize the integrative and conjugative element of the ICESa2603 family conferring multiple drug resistance in Streptococcus suis. PLoS Pathog 2024; 20:e1012169. [PMID: 38640137 PMCID: PMC11062541 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) play a vital role in bacterial evolution by carrying essential genes that confer adaptive functions to the host. Despite their importance, the mechanism underlying the stable inheritance of ICEs, which is necessary for the acquisition of new traits in bacteria, remains poorly understood. Here, we identified SezAT, a type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) system, and AbiE, a type IV TA system encoded within the ICESsuHN105, coordinately promote ICE stabilization and mediate multidrug resistance in Streptococcus suis. Deletion of SezAT or AbiE did not affect the strain's antibiotic susceptibility, but their duple deletion increased susceptibility, mainly mediated by the antitoxins SezA and AbiEi. Further studies have revealed that SezA and AbiEi affect the genetic stability of ICESsuHN105 by moderating the excision and extrachromosomal copy number, consequently affecting the antibiotic resistance conferred by ICE. The DNA-binding proteins AbiEi and SezA, which bind palindromic sequences in the promoter, coordinately modulate ICE excision and extracellular copy number by binding to sequences in the origin-of-transfer (oriT) and the attL sites, respectively. Furthermore, AbiEi negatively regulates the transcription of SezAT by binding directly to its promoter, optimizing the coordinate network of SezAT and AbiE in maintaining ICESsuHN105 stability. Importantly, SezAT and AbiE are widespread and conserved in ICEs harbouring diverse drug-resistance genes, and their coordinated effects in promoting ICE stability and mediating drug resistance may be broadly applicable to other ICEs. Altogether, our study uncovers the TA system's role in maintaining the genetic stability of ICE and offers potential targets for overcoming the dissemination and evolution of drug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qibing Gu
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China
- OIE Reference Lab for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiayu Zhu
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China
- OIE Reference Lab for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing, China
| | - Yong Yu
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China
- OIE Reference Lab for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing, China
| | - Tao Jiang
- Department of Stomatology, Jinling Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zihao Pan
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China
- OIE Reference Lab for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing, China
| | - Jiale Ma
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China
- OIE Reference Lab for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing, China
| | - Huochun Yao
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China
- OIE Reference Lab for Swine Streptococcosis, Nanjing, China
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Murányi G, Szabó M, Acsai K, Kiss J. Two birds with one stone: SGI1 can stabilize itself and expel the IncC helper by hijacking the plasmid parABS system. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:2498-2518. [PMID: 38300764 PMCID: PMC10954446 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
The SGI1 family integrative mobilizable elements, which are efficient agents in distribution of multidrug resistance in Gammaproteobacteria, have a complex, parasitic relationship with their IncC conjugative helper plasmids. Besides exploiting the transfer apparatus, SGI1 also hijacks IncC plasmid control mechanisms to time its own excision, replication and expression of self-encoded T4SS components, which provides advantages for SGI1 over its helpers in conjugal transfer and stable maintenance. Furthermore, SGI1 destabilizes its helpers in an unknown, replication-dependent way when they are concomitantly present in the same host. Here we report how SGI1 exploits the helper plasmid partitioning system to displace the plasmid and simultaneously increase its own stability. We show that SGI1 carries two copies of sequences mimicking the parS sites of IncC plasmids. These parS-like elements bind the ParB protein encoded by the plasmid and increase SGI1 stability by utilizing the parABS system of the plasmid for its own partitioning, through which SGI1 also destabilizes the helper plasmid. Furthermore, SGI1 expresses a small protein, Sci, which significantly strengthens this plasmid-destabilizing effect, as well as SGI1 maintenance. The plasmid-induced replication of SGI1 results in an increased copy-number of parS-like sequences and Sci expression leading to strong incompatibility with the helper plasmid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gábor Murányi
- Department of Microbiology and Applied Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, H2100 Hungary
| | - Mónika Szabó
- Department of Microbiology and Applied Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, H2100 Hungary
- Agribiotechnology and Precision Breeding for Food Security National Laboratory, Gödöllő, H2100 Hungary
| | - Károly Acsai
- Ceva Animal Health, Ceva-Phylaxia, Budapest, H1107 Hungary
| | - János Kiss
- Department of Microbiology and Applied Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, H2100 Hungary
- Agribiotechnology and Precision Breeding for Food Security National Laboratory, Gödöllő, H2100 Hungary
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Ryan MP, Carraro N, Slattery S, Pembroke JT. Integrative Conjugative Elements (ICEs) of the SXT/R391 family drive adaptation and evolution in γ-Proteobacteria. Crit Rev Microbiol 2024; 50:105-126. [PMID: 36634159 DOI: 10.1080/1040841x.2022.2161870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Integrative Conjugative Elements (ICEs) are mosaics containing functional modules allowing maintenance by site-specific integration and excision into and from the host genome and conjugative transfer to a specific host range. Many ICEs encode a range of adaptive functions that aid bacterial survival and evolution in a range of niches. ICEs from the SXT/R391 family are found in γ-Proteobacteria. Over 100 members have undergone epidemiological and molecular characterization allowing insight into their diversity and function. Comparative analysis of SXT/R391 elements from a wide geographic distribution has revealed conservation of key functions, and the accumulation and evolution of adaptive genes. This evolution is associated with gene acquisition in conserved hotspots and variable regions within the SXT/R391 ICEs catalysed via element-encoded recombinases. The elements can carry IS elements and transposons, and a mutagenic DNA polymerase, PolV, which are associated with their evolution. SXT/R391 ICEs isolated from different niches appear to have retained adaptive functions related to that specific niche; phage resistance determinants in ICEs carried by wastewater bacteria, antibiotic resistance determinants in clinical isolates and metal resistance determinants in bacteria recovered from polluted environments/ocean sediments. Many genes found in the element hotspots are undetermined and have few homologs in the nucleotide databases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P Ryan
- Department of Applied Sciences, Technological University of the Shannon, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Nicolas Carraro
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Shannon Slattery
- Department of Chemical Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland
| | - J Tony Pembroke
- Department of Chemical Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland
- Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland
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4
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Peng K, Li Y, Wang Q, Yang P, Wang Z, Li R. Integrative conjugative elements mediate the high prevalence of tmexCD3-toprJ1b in Proteus spp. of animal source. mSystems 2023; 8:e0042923. [PMID: 37707055 PMCID: PMC10654056 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00429-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE The emergence and spread of tmexCD-toprJ have greatly weakened the function of tigecycline. Although studies have demonstrated the significance of Proteus as carriers for tmexCD-toprJ, the epidemic mechanism and characteristics of tmexCD-toprJ in Proteus remain unclear. Herein, we deciphered that the umuC gene in VRIII of SXT/R391 ICEs was a hotspot for the integration of tmexCD3-toprJ1b-bearing mobile genetic elements by genomic analysis. The mobilization and dissemination of tmexCD3-toprJ1b in Proteus were mediated by highly prevalent ICEs. Furthermore, the co-occurrence of tmexCD3-toprJ1b-bearing ICEs with other chromosomally encoded multidrug resistance gene islands warned that the chromosomes of Proteus are significant reservoirs of ARGs. Overall, our results provide significant insights for the prevention and control of tmexCD3-toprJ1b in Proteus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Peng
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yangfan Li
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Qiaojun Wang
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Pengbin Yang
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Zhiqiang Wang
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
- Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, the Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ruichao Li
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
- Institute of Comparative Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
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5
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McKeithen-Mead SA, Grossman AD. Timing of integration into the chromosome is critical for the fitness of an integrative and conjugative element and its bacterial host. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1010524. [PMID: 36780569 PMCID: PMC9956884 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are major contributors to genome plasticity in bacteria. ICEs reside integrated in the chromosome of a host bacterium and are passively propagated during chromosome replication and cell division. When activated, ICEs excise from the chromosome and may be transferred through the ICE-encoded conjugation machinery into a recipient cell. Integration into the chromosome of the new host generates a stable transconjugant. Although integration into the chromosome of a new host is critical for the stable acquisition of ICEs, few studies have directly investigated the molecular events that occur in recipient cells during generation of a stable transconjugant. We found that integration of ICEBs1, an ICE of Bacillus subtilis, occurred several generations after initial transfer to a new host. Premature integration in new hosts led to cell death and hence decreased fitness of the ICE and transconjugants. Host lethality due to premature integration was caused by rolling circle replication that initiated in the integrated ICEBs1 and extended into the host chromosome, resulting in catastrophic genome instability. Our results demonstrate that the timing of integration of an ICE is linked to cessation of autonomous replication of the ICE, and that perturbing this linkage leads to a decrease in ICE and host fitness due to a loss of viability of transconjugants. Linking integration to cessation of autonomous replication appears to be a conserved regulatory scheme for mobile genetic elements that both replicate and integrate into the chromosome of their host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saria A. McKeithen-Mead
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Alan D. Grossman
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
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Zhang F, Ye X, Yin Z, Hu M, Wang B, Liu W, Li B, Ren H, Jin Y, Yue J. Comparative genomics reveals new insights into the evolution of the IncA and IncC family of plasmids. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:1045314. [PMID: 36466664 PMCID: PMC9709138 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1045314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Incompatibility groups IncA and IncC plasmids are of great concern due to their ability to disseminate antibiotic resistance in bacteria via conjugative transfer. A deep understanding of their genomic structures and evolutionary characteristics is of great significance for improving our knowledge about its multidrug-resistance evolution and dissemination. However, current knowledge of their backbone structure, features of core functional modules and the characteristics of variable regions is based on a few plasmids, which highlights the need for a comprehensive systematic study. The present study thoroughly compared and analysed 678 IncA and IncC plasmid genomes. We found that their core functional genes were occasionally deficient and sometimes existed as multiple functional copies/multiple families, which resulted in much diversity. The phylogeny of 13 core functional genes corresponded well to the plasmid subtypes. The conjugative transfer system gained diverse complexity and exhibited many previously unnoticed types with multiple combinations. The insertion of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in plasmids varied between types and was present in 4 insertion spots in different types of plasmids with certain types of transposons, integrons and insertion sequences. The impact of gene duplication, deletion, the insertion of MGEs, genome rearrangement and recombination resulted in the complex dynamic variable backbone of IncA and IncC plasmids. And IncA and IncC plasmids were more complex than their closest relative SXT/R391 integrative conjugative elements (ICEs), which included nearly all of the diversity of SXT/R391 in key systems. Our work demonstrated a global and systematic view of the IncA and IncC plasmids and provides many new insights into their genome evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fengwei Zhang
- Medical College of Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Xianwei Ye
- Medical College of Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
- Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital, Guiyang, China
| | - Zhiqiu Yin
- National Engineering Research Center for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, College of Resources and Environment, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China
| | - Mingda Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Boqian Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Wenting Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Beiping Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Hongguang Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Yuan Jin
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Junjie Yue
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
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First Report of the Colistin Resistance Gene mcr-10.1 Carried by Inc pA1763-KPC Plasmid pSL12517-mcr10.1 in Enterobacter cloacae in Sierra Leone. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0112722. [PMID: 35695522 PMCID: PMC9431528 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01127-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Mobile colistin resistance (mcr) gene mcr-10.1 has been distributed widely since it was initially identified in 2020. The aim of this study was to report the first mcr-10.1 in Africa and the first mcr in Sierra Leone; furthermore, we presented diverse modular structures of mcr-10.1 loci. Here, the complete sequence of one mcr-10.1-carrying plasmid in one clinical Enterobacter cloacae isolate from Sierra Leone was determined. Detailed genetic dissection and comparison were applied to this plasmid, together with a homologous plasmid carrying mcr-10.1 from GenBank. Moreover, a genetic comparison of 19 mcr-10.1 loci was performed. In this study, mcr-10.1 was carried by an IncpA1763-KPC plasmid from one Enterobacter cloacae isolate. A total of 19 mcr-10.1 loci displayed diversification in modular structures through complex transposition and homologous recombination. A site-specific tyrosine recombinase XerC was located upstream of mcr-10.1, and at least one insertion sequence element was inserted adjacent to a conserved xerC-mcr-10.1-orf336-orf177 region. Integration of mcr-10.1 into a different gene context and carried by various Inc plasmids contributed to the wide distribution of mcr-10.1 and enhanced the ability of bacteria to survive under colistin selection pressure. IMPORTANCE Colistin is used as one of the last available choices of antibiotics for patients infected by carbapenem-resistant bacterial strains, but the unrestricted use of colistin aggravated the acquisition and dissemination of mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes. So far, 10 mcr genes have been reported in four continents around the world. This study presented one mcr-10.1-carrying Enterobacter cloacae isolate from Sierra Leone. The mcr-10.1 gene was identified on an IncpA1763-KPC plasmid. According to the results of genetic comparison of 19 mcr-10.1 loci, the mcr-10.1 gene was found to be located in a conserved xerC-mcr-10.1-orf336-orf177 region, and at least one insertion sequence element was inserted adjacent to this region. To our knowledge, this is the first report of identifying the mcr-10.1 gene in Africa and the mcr gene in Sierra Leone.
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Biology and engineering of integrative and conjugative elements: Construction and analyses of hybrid ICEs reveal element functions that affect species-specific efficiencies. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1009998. [PMID: 35584135 PMCID: PMC9154091 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are mobile genetic elements that reside in a bacterial host chromosome and are prominent drivers of bacterial evolution. They are also powerful tools for genetic analyses and engineering. Transfer of an ICE to a new host involves many steps, including excision from the chromosome, DNA processing and replication, transfer across the envelope of the donor and recipient, processing of the DNA, and eventual integration into the chromosome of the new host (now a stable transconjugant). Interactions between an ICE and its host throughout the life cycle likely influence the efficiencies of acquisition by new hosts. Here, we investigated how different functional modules of two ICEs, Tn916 and ICEBs1, affect the transfer efficiencies into different host bacteria. We constructed hybrid elements that utilize the high-efficiency regulatory and excision modules of ICEBs1 and the conjugation genes of Tn916. These elements produced more transconjugants than Tn916, likely due to an increase in the number of cells expressing element genes and a corresponding increase in excision. We also found that several Tn916 and ICEBs1 components can substitute for one another. Using B. subtilis donors and three Enterococcus species as recipients, we found that different hybrid elements were more readily acquired by some species than others, demonstrating species-specific interactions in steps of the ICE life cycle. This work demonstrates that hybrid elements utilizing the efficient regulatory functions of ICEBs1 can be built to enable efficient transfer into and engineering of a variety of other species. Horizontal gene transfer helps drive microbial evolution, enabling bacteria to rapidly acquire new genes and traits. Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are mobile genetic elements that reside in a bacterial host chromosome and are prominent drivers of horizontal gene transfer. They are also powerful tools for genetic analyses and engineering. Some ICEs carry genes that confer obvious properties to host bacteria, including antibiotic resistances, symbiosis, and pathogenesis. When activated, an ICE-encoded machine is made that can transfer the element to other cells, where it then integrates into the chromosome of the new host. Specific ICEs transfer more effectively into some bacterial species compared to others, yet little is known about the determinants of the efficiencies and specificity of acquisition by different bacterial species. We made and utilized hybrid ICEs, composed of parts of two different elements, to investigate determinants of transfer efficiencies. Our findings demonstrate that there are species-specific interactions that help determine efficiencies of stable acquisition, and that this explains, in part, the efficiencies of different ICEs. These hybrid elements are also useful in genetic engineering and synthetic biology to move genes and pathways into different bacterial species with greater efficiencies than can be achieved with naturally occurring ICEs.
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Guan J, Bao C, Wang P, Jing Y, Wang L, Li X, Mu X, Li B, Zhou D, Guo X, Yin Z. Genetic Characterization of Four Groups of Chromosome-Borne Accessory Genetic Elements Carrying Drug Resistance Genes in Providencia. Infect Drug Resist 2022; 15:2253-2270. [PMID: 35510160 PMCID: PMC9058013 DOI: 10.2147/idr.s354934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose The aim of this study was to gain a deeper genomics and bioinformatics understanding of diversification of accessory genetic elements (AGEs) in Providencia. Methods Herein, the complete genome sequences of five Providencia isolates from China were determined, and seven AGEs were identified from the chromosomes. Detailed genetic dissection and sequence comparison were applied to these seven AGEs, together with additional 10 chromosomal ones from GenBank (nine of them came from Providencia). Results These 17 AGEs were divided into four groups: Tn6512 and its six derivatives, Tn6872 and its two derivatives, Tn6875 and its one derivative, and Tn7 and its four derivatives. These AGEs display high-level diversification in modular structures that had complex mosaic natures, and particularly different multidrug resistance (MDR) regions were presented in these AGEs. At least 52 drug resistance genes, involved in resistance to 15 different categories of antimicrobials and heavy metal, were found in 15 of these 17 AGEs. Conclusion Integration of these AGEs into the Providencia chromosomes would contribute to the accumulation and distribution of drug resistance genes and enhance the ability of Providencia isolates to survive under drug selection pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayao Guan
- Key Laboratory of Jilin Province for Zoonosis Prevention and Control, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130122, People’s Republic of China
| | - Chunmei Bao
- Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China
| | - Peng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ying Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China
| | - Lingling Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xinyue Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiaofei Mu
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China
| | - Boan Li
- Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China
| | - Dongsheng Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xuejun Guo
- Key Laboratory of Jilin Province for Zoonosis Prevention and Control, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130122, People’s Republic of China
- Xuejun Guo, Key Laboratory of Jilin Province for Zoonosis Prevention and Control, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130122, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-431-86985931, Email
| | - Zhe Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China
- Correspondence: Zhe Yin, State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-10-66948557, Email
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Suenaga H, Matsuzawa T, Sahara T. Discovery by metagenomics of a functional tandem repeat sequence that controls gene expression in bacteria. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2022; 98:6555030. [DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiac037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The ability to degrade exogenous compounds is acquired by adaptive processes of microorganisms when they are exposed to compounds that are foreign to their existing enzyme systems. Previously, we reported that simultaneous point mutations and mobile genetic elements cause the evolution and optimization of the degradation systems for aromatic compounds. In the present study, we propose another element with this role—tandem repeats. The novel metagenomic tandem repeat (MTR) sequence T(G/A)ACATG(A/C)T was identified in the 5′-untranslated regions of catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C23O)-encoding genes by metagenomic analysis. Recombinant Escherichia coli carrying a C23O gene with various numbers of MTRs exhibited increased C23O protein expression and enzyme activity compared with cells expressing the C23O gene without MTRs. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR showed that changes in the numbers of MTRs affected the levels of detectable C23O mRNA in the E. coli host. Furthermore, the mRNAs transcribed from C23O genes containing various numbers of MTRs had longer half-lives than those transcribed from a C23O gene without MTRs. Thus, MTRs would affect the translation efficiency of the gene expression system. MTRs may change the expression levels of their downstream genes for adaptation to a fluctuating environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hikaru Suenaga
- Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomohiko Matsuzawa
- Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki-cho, Kagawa, Japan
| | - Takehiko Sahara
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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Abstract
Naturally occurring plasmids come in different sizes. The smallest are less than a kilobase of DNA, while the largest can be over three orders of magnitude larger. Historically, research has tended to focus on smaller plasmids that are usually easier to isolate, manipulate and sequence, but with improved genome assemblies made possible by long-read sequencing, there is increased appreciation that very large plasmids—known as megaplasmids—are widespread, diverse, complex, and often encode key traits in the biology of their host microorganisms. Why are megaplasmids so big? What other features come with large plasmid size that could affect bacterial ecology and evolution? Are megaplasmids 'just' big plasmids, or do they have distinct characteristics? In this perspective, we reflect on the distribution, diversity, biology, and gene content of megaplasmids, providing an overview to these large, yet often overlooked, mobile genetic elements. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The secret lives of microbial mobile genetic elements’.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P J Hall
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - João Botelho
- Antibiotic Resistance Evolution Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics, Zoological Institute, Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Adrian Cazares
- EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK.,Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK
| | - David A Baltrus
- School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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12
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Durand R, Huguet KT, Rivard N, Carraro N, Rodrigue S, Burrus V. Crucial role of Salmonella genomic island 1 master activator in the parasitism of IncC plasmids. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:7807-7824. [PMID: 33834206 PMCID: PMC8373056 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
IncC conjugative plasmids and the multiple variants of Salmonella Genomic Island 1 (SGI1) are two functionally interacting families of mobile genetic elements commonly associated with multidrug resistance in the Gammaproteobacteria. SGI1 and its siblings are specifically mobilised in trans by IncC conjugative plasmids. Conjugative transfer of IncC plasmids is activated by the plasmid-encoded master activator AcaCD. SGI1 carries five AcaCD-responsive promoters that drive the expression of genes involved in its excision, replication, and mobilisation. SGI1 encodes an AcaCD homologue, the transcriptional activator complex SgaCD (also known as FlhDCSGI1) that seems to recognise and activate the same SGI1 promoters. Here, we investigated the relevance of SgaCD in SGI1's lifecycle. Mating assays revealed the requirement for SgaCD and its IncC-encoded counterpart AcaCD in the mobilisation of SGI1. An integrative approach combining ChIP-exo, Cappable-seq, and RNA-seq confirmed that SgaCD activates each of the 18 AcaCD-responsive promoters driving the expression of the plasmid transfer functions. A comprehensive analysis of the activity of the complete set of AcaCD-responsive promoters of SGI1 and the helper IncC plasmid was performed through reporter assays. qPCR and flow cytometry assays revealed that SgaCD is essential to elicit the excision and replication of SGI1 and destabilise the helper IncC plasmid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain Durand
- Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Kévin T Huguet
- Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Nicolas Rivard
- Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Nicolas Carraro
- Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Sébastien Rodrigue
- Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Vincent Burrus
- Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
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13
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A Novel SXT/R391 Integrative and Conjugative Element Carries Two Copies of the blaNDM-1 Gene in Proteus mirabilis. mSphere 2021; 6:e0058821. [PMID: 34378988 PMCID: PMC8386438 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00588-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid spread of the blaNDM-1 gene is a major public health concern. Here, we describe the multidrug-resistant Proteus mirabilis strain XH1653, which contains a novel SXT/R391 integrative and conjugative element (ICE), harboring two tandem copies of blaNDM-1 and 21 other resistance genes. XH1653 was resistant to all antibiotics tested, apart from aztreonam. Whole-genome data revealed that two copies of blaNDM-1 embedded in the ISCR1 element are located in HS4 of the novel ICE, which we named ICEPmiChnXH1653. A circular intermediate of ICEPmiChnXH1653 was detected by PCR, and conjugation experiments showed that the ICE can be transferred to the Escherichia coli strain EC600 with frequencies of 1.5 × 10-7. In the recipient strain, the ICE exhibited a higher excision frequency and extrachromosomal copy number than the ICE in the donor strain. We also observed that the presence of ICEPmiChnXH1653 has a negative impact on bacterial fitness and leads to changes in the transcriptome of the host. In vitro evolution experiments under nonselective conditions showed that the two tandem copies of the ISCR1 element and the ISVsa3 element can be lost during repeated laboratory passage. This is the first report of a novel SXT/R391 ICE carrying two tandem copies of blaNDM-1, which also illustrates the role that ICEs may play as platforms for the accumulation and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes. IMPORTANCE The occurrence of carbapenemase-producing Proteus mirabilis, especially those strains producing NDM-1 and its variants, is a major public health concern worldwide. The integrative conjugative element (ICE) plays an important role in horizontal acquisition of resistance genes. In this study, we characterized a novel SXT/R391 ICE from a clinical P. mirabilis isolate that we named ICEPmiChnXH1653, which contains two tandem copies of the carbapenemase gene blaNDM-1. We performed an integrative approach to gain insights into different aspects of ICEPmiChnXH1653 evolution and biology and observed that ICEPmiChnXH1653 obtained the carbapenemase gene blaNDM-1 by ISCR1-mediated homologous recombination. Our study reveals that the transmission of blaNDM-1 by ISCR1 elements or ICEs may be an important contributor to the carbapenem resistance development across species, which could improve our understanding of horizontal gene transfer in clinical environments.
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14
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Sierra Y, González-Díaz A, Carrera-Salinas A, Berbel D, Vázquez-Sánchez DA, Tubau F, Cubero M, Garmendia J, Càmara J, Ayats J, Ardanuy C, Marti S. Genome-wide analysis of urogenital and respiratory multidrug-resistant Haemophilus parainfluenzae. J Antimicrob Chemother 2021; 76:1741-1751. [PMID: 33792695 DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkab109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To characterize the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and the prevalence of the polysaccharide capsule among urogenital and respiratory Haemophilus parainfluenzae isolates. METHODS Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by microdilution. Fifty-five MDR strains were subjected to WGS and were phylogenetically compared with all the available H. parainfluenzae genomes from the NCBI database. The identification of the capsular bexA gene was performed by PCR in 266 non-MDR strains. RESULTS In 31 of the 42 ampicillin-resistant strains, blaTEM-1 located within Tn3 was identified. β-Lactamase-negative cefuroxime-resistant strains (n = 12) presented PBP3 substitutions. The catS gene (n = 14), the tet(M)-MEGA element (n = 18) and FolA substitutions (I95L and F154V/S) (n = 41) were associated with resistance to chloramphenicol, tetracycline plus macrolides, and co-trimoxazole, respectively. Thirty-seven isolates had a Tn10 harbouring tet(B)/(C)/(D)/(R) genes with (n = 15) or without (n = 22) catA2. Putative transposons (Tn7076-Tn7079), including aminoglycoside and co-trimoxazole resistance genes, were identified in 10 strains (18.2%). These transposons were integrated into three new integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), which also included the resistance-associated transposons Tn3 and Tn10. The capsular operon was found only in the urogenital isolates (18/154, 11.7%), but no phylogenetic clustering was observed. The capsular operons identified were similar to those of Haemophilus influenzae serotype c and Haemophilus sputorum type 2. CONCLUSIONS The identification of ICEs with up to three resistance-associated transposons suggests that these transferable elements play an important role in the acquisition of multidrug resistance in H. parainfluenzae. Moreover, the presence of polysaccharide capsules in some of these urogenital isolates is a cause for concern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanik Sierra
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aida González-Díaz
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Anna Carrera-Salinas
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Dàmaris Berbel
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Daniel Antonio Vázquez-Sánchez
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fe Tubau
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Meritxell Cubero
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Junkal Garmendia
- Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Instituto de Agrobiotecnología, CSIC-Gobierno Navarra, Mutilva, Spain
| | - Jordi Càmara
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Josefina Ayats
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carmen Ardanuy
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Marti
- Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.,Research Network for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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15
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Szabó M, Murányi G, Kiss J. IncC helper dependent plasmid-like replication of Salmonella Genomic Island 1. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:832-846. [PMID: 33406256 PMCID: PMC7826253 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The Salmonella genomic island 1 (SGI1) and its variants are mobilized by IncA and IncC conjugative plasmids. SGI1-family elements and their helper plasmids are effective transporters of multidrug resistance determinants. SGI1 exploits the transfer apparatus of the helper plasmid and hijacks its activator complex, AcaCD, to trigger the expression of several SGI1 genes. In this way, SGI1 times its excision from the chromosome to the helper entry and expresses mating pore components that enhance SGI1 transfer. The SGI1-encoded T4SS components and the FlhDC-family activator proved to be interchangeable with their IncC-encoded homologs, indicating multiple interactions between SGI1 and its helpers. As a new aspect of this crosstalk, we report here the helper-induced replication of SGI1, which requires both activators, AcaCD and FlhDCSGI1, and significantly increases the stability of SGI1 when coexists with the helper plasmid. We have identified the oriVSGI1 and shown that S004-repA operon encodes for a translationally coupled leader protein and an IncN2/N3-related RepA that are expressed under the control of the AcaCD-responsive promoter PS004. This replicon transiently maintains SGI1 as a 4–8-copy plasmid, not only stabilizing the island but also contributing to the fast displacement of the helper plasmid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mónika Szabó
- Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, Gödöllő H2100, Hungary
| | - Gábor Murányi
- Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, Gödöllő H2100, Hungary
| | - János Kiss
- Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, Gödöllő H2100, Hungary
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16
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Wang D, Mu X, Chen Y, Zhao D, Fu Y, Jiang Y, Zhu Y, Quan J, Hua X, Mao G, Li X, Yu Y. Emergence of a Clinical Escherichia coli Sequence Type 131 Strain Carrying a Chromosomal bla KPC-2 Gene. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:586764. [PMID: 33281782 PMCID: PMC7691318 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.586764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives: Bacteria carrying the Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase genes have rapidly spread worldwide and have become a great threat to public health. The blaKPC–2 gene has been primarily located on plasmids cocirculating in various strains. However, chromosomal integration of the blaKPC–2 gene in Escherichia coli has not been reported. In the present study, we report the detection of the first clinical strain of E. coli ST131 with a blaKPC–2 gene, which integrated in the chromosome. E. coli strain EC3385 was identified and subjected to susceptibility testing and genotyping. The complete genome sequences of this strain and four Proteus mirabilis strains were obtained. Chromosomal integration of the blaKPC–2 gene was confirmed using a combination of short- and long-read sequencing. Comparative genetic analyses were performed and the origin of the chromosomal location of the blaKPC–2 gene was further analyzed. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that strain EC3385 belonged to the ST131 type and possessed various resistance and virulence genes. Sequence analysis showed that the blaKPC–2 gene was carried in a 24-kb insertion sequence on the chromosome. This insertion sequence possessed high sequence similarity to previously reported blaKPC–2-habouring plasmids of P. mirabilis in China. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a clinical ST131 E. coli strain carrying blaKPC–2 on the chromosome. The blaKPC–2 gene was probably horizontally transferred from the P. mirabilis plasmid to the E. coli chromosome by the IS26 element, indicating that P. mirabilis might be an important reservoir of blaKPC–2 gene for E. coli. Furthermore, the E. coli ST131 strain carrying the chromosomal blaKPC–2 gene could be further spread due to its carbapenem resistance and high virulence. It is imperative to perform active surveillance to prevent further dissemination of KPC-2 type carbapenemase-producing isolates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dairong Wang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Blood Center of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xinli Mu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ying Chen
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Dongdong Zhao
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ying Fu
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China.,Department of Clinical Laboratory, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yan Jiang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yiwei Zhu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jingjing Quan
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoting Hua
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Guofeng Mao
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
| | - Xi Li
- Centre of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yunsong Yu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China
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17
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Sato JL, Fonseca MRB, Cerdeira LT, Tognim MCB, Sincero TCM, Noronha do Amaral MC, Lincopan N, Galhardo RS. Genomic Analysis of SXT/R391 Integrative Conjugative Elements From Proteus mirabilis Isolated in Brazil. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:571472. [PMID: 33193168 PMCID: PMC7606855 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.571472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) are widespread in many bacterial species, often carrying antibiotic resistance determinants. In the present work, we screened a collection of Proteus mirabilis clinical isolates for the presence of type 1 SXT/R391 ICEs. Among the 76 isolates analyzed, 5 of them carry such elements. The complete sequences of these elements were obtained. One of the isolates carried the CMY-2 beta-lactamase gene in a transposon and is nearly identical to the element ICEPmiJpn1 previously described in Japan, and later shown to be present in other parts of the world, indicating global spread of this element. Nevertheless, the Brazilian isolate carrying ICEPmiJpn1 is not clonally related to the other lineages carrying the same element around the world. The other ICEs identified in this work do not carry known antibiotic resistance markers and are diverse in variable gene content and size, suggesting that these elements may be responsible for the acquisition of other advantageous traits by bacteria. Some sequences carried by these elements in Brazilian strains were not previously found in other SXT/R391 variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana L Sato
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marina R B Fonseca
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Louise T Cerdeira
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Department of Infectious Diseases, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Maria C B Tognim
- Department of Basic Health Sciences, State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil
| | - Thais C M Sincero
- Department of Clinical Analysis, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | | | - Nilton Lincopan
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo S Galhardo
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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18
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Huguet KT, Rivard N, Garneau D, Palanee J, Burrus V. Replication of the Salmonella Genomic Island 1 (SGI1) triggered by helper IncC conjugative plasmids promotes incompatibility and plasmid loss. PLoS Genet 2020; 16:e1008965. [PMID: 32760058 PMCID: PMC7433901 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The mobilizable resistance island Salmonella genomic island 1 (SGI1) is specifically mobilized by IncA and IncC conjugative plasmids. SGI1, its variants and IncC plasmids propagate multidrug resistance in pathogenic enterobacteria such as Salmonella enterica serovars and Proteus mirabilis. SGI1 modifies and uses the conjugation apparatus encoded by the helper IncC plasmid, thus enhancing its own propagation. Remarkably, although SGI1 needs a coresident IncC plasmid to excise from the chromosome and transfer to a new host, these elements have been reported to be incompatible. Here, the stability of SGI1 and its helper IncC plasmid, each expressing a different fluorescent reporter protein, was monitored using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Without selective pressure, 95% of the cells segregated into two subpopulations containing either SGI1 or the helper plasmid. Furthermore, FACS analysis revealed a high level of SGI1-specific fluorescence in IncC+ cells, suggesting that SGI1 undergoes active replication in the presence of the helper plasmid. SGI1 replication was confirmed by quantitative PCR assays, and extraction and restriction of its plasmid form. Deletion of genes involved in SGI1 excision from the chromosome allowed a stable coexistence of SGI1 with its helper plasmid without selective pressure. In addition, deletion of S003 (rep) or of a downstream putative iteron-based origin of replication, while allowing SGI1 excision, abolished its replication, alleviated the incompatibility with the helper plasmid and enabled its cotransfer to a new host. Like SGI1 excision functions, rep expression was found to be controlled by AcaCD, the master activator of IncC plasmid transfer. Transient SGI1 replication seems to be a key feature of the life cycle of this family of genomic islands. Sequence database analysis revealed that SGI1 variants encode either a replication initiator protein with a RepA_C domain, or an alternative replication protein with N-terminal replicase and primase C terminal 1 domains. The Salmonella genomic island 1 (SGI1) and its variants propagate multidrug resistance in several species of human and animal pathogens with the help of IncA and IncC conjugative plasmids that are absolutely required for SGI1 dissemination. These helper plasmids are known to trigger the excision of SGI1 from the chromosome. Here, we found that IncC plasmids also trigger the replication of the excised, circular form of SGI1 by enabling the expression of an SGI1-borne replication initiator gene. In return, high-copy replication of SGI1 interferes with the persistence of the IncC plasmid and prevents its cotransfer into a recipient cell, thereby allowing integration and stabilization of SGI1 into the chromosome of the new host. This finding is important to better understand the complex interactions between SGI1-like elements and their helper plasmids that lead to widespread and highly efficient propagation of multidrug resistance genes to a broad range of human and animal pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kévin T. Huguet
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
| | - Nicolas Rivard
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
| | - Daniel Garneau
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
| | - Jason Palanee
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
| | - Vincent Burrus
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
- * E-mail:
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19
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Botelho J, Schulenburg H. The Role of Integrative and Conjugative Elements in Antibiotic Resistance Evolution. Trends Microbiol 2020; 29:8-18. [PMID: 32536522 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2020.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Mobile genetic elements (MGEs), such as plasmids and integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), are main drivers for the spread of antibiotic resistance (AR). Coevolution between bacteria and plasmids shapes the transfer and stability of plasmids across bacteria. Although ICEs outnumber conjugative plasmids, the dynamics of ICE-bacterium coevolution, ICE transfer rates, and fitness costs are as yet largely unexplored. Conjugative plasmids and ICEs are both transferred by type IV secretion systems, but ICEs are typically immune to segregational loss, suggesting that the evolution of ICE-bacterium associations varies from that of plasmid-bacterium associations. Considering the high abundance of ICEs among bacteria, ICE-bacterium dynamics represent a promising challenge for future research that will enhance our understanding of AR spread in human pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Botelho
- Antibiotic Resistance Evolution Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany; Department of Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics, Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany.
| | - Hinrich Schulenburg
- Antibiotic Resistance Evolution Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany; Department of Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics, Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany
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20
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Cury J, Oliveira PH, de la Cruz F, Rocha EPC. Host Range and Genetic Plasticity Explain the Coexistence of Integrative and Extrachromosomal Mobile Genetic Elements. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 35:2230-2239. [PMID: 29905872 PMCID: PMC6107060 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-transmissible mobile genetic elements drive horizontal gene transfer between prokaryotes. Some of these elements integrate in the chromosome, whereas others replicate autonomously as plasmids. Recent works showed the existence of few differences, and occasional interconversion, between the two types of elements. Here, we enquired on why evolutionary processes have maintained the two types of mobile genetic elements by comparing integrative and conjugative elements (ICE) with extrachromosomal ones (conjugative plasmids) of the highly abundant MPFT conjugative type. We observed that plasmids encode more replicases, partition systems, and antibiotic resistance genes, whereas ICEs encode more integrases and metabolism-associated genes. ICEs and plasmids have similar average sizes, but plasmids are much more variable, have more DNA repeats, and exchange genes more frequently. On the other hand, we found that ICEs are more frequently transferred between distant taxa. We propose a model where the different genetic plasticity and amplitude of host range between elements explain the co-occurrence of integrative and extrachromosomal elements in microbial populations. In particular, the conversion from ICE to plasmid allows ICE to be more plastic, while the conversion from plasmid to ICE allows the expansion of the element's host range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Cury
- Microbial Evolutionary Genomics, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.,CNRS, UMR3525, Paris, France
| | - Pedro H Oliveira
- Microbial Evolutionary Genomics, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.,CNRS, UMR3525, Paris, France
| | - Fernando de la Cruz
- Departamento de Biologia Molecular e Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotecnologia de Cantabria (IBBTEC), Universidad de Cantabria-CSIC, Santander, Spain
| | - Eduardo P C Rocha
- Microbial Evolutionary Genomics, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.,CNRS, UMR3525, Paris, France
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21
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Das B, Verma J, Kumar P, Ghosh A, Ramamurthy T. Antibiotic resistance in Vibrio cholerae: Understanding the ecology of resistance genes and mechanisms. Vaccine 2020; 38 Suppl 1:A83-A92. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Ryan MP, Slattery S, Pembroke JT. A Novel Arsenate-Resistant Determinant Associated with ICEpMERPH, a Member of the SXT/R391 Group of Mobile Genetic Elements. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10121048. [PMID: 31888308 PMCID: PMC6947025 DOI: 10.3390/genes10121048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
ICEpMERPH, the first integrative conjugative element (ICE) of the SXT/R391 family isolated in the United Kingdom and Europe, was analyzed to determine the nature of its adaptive functions, its genetic structure, and its homology to related elements normally found in pathogenic Vibrio or Proteus species. Whole genome sequencing of Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolate K802 (which contains the ICEpMERPH) was carried out using Illumina sequencing technology. ICEpMERPH has a size of 110 Kb and 112 putative open reading frames (ORFs). The “hotspot regions” of the element were found to contain putative restriction digestion systems, insertion sequences, and heavy metal resistance genes that encoded resistance to mercury, as previously reported, but also surprisingly to arsenate. A novel arsenate resistance system was identified in hotspot 4 of the element, unrelated to other SXT/R391 elements. This arsenate resistance system was potentially linked to two genes: orf69, encoding an organoarsenical efflux major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter-like protein related to ArsJ, and orf70, encoding nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Phenotypic analysis using isogenic strains of Escherichia coli strain AB1157 with and without the ICEpMERPH revealed resistance to low levels of arsenate in the range of 1–5 mM. This novel, low-level resistance may have an important adaptive function in polluted environments, which often contain low levels of arsenate contamination. A bioinformatic analysis on the novel determinant and the phylogeny of ICEpMERPH was presented.
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Baquedano I, Mencía M, Blesa A, Burrus V, Berenguerfi J. ICETh1 and ICETh2, two interdependent mobile genetic elements in Thermus thermophilus transjugation. Environ Microbiol 2019; 22:158-169. [PMID: 31715642 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Cell to cell DNA transfer between Thermus thermophilus, or transjugation, requires the natural competence apparatus (NCA) of the recipient cell and a DNA donation machinery in the donor. In T. thermophilus HB27, two mobile genetic elements with functional similarities to Integrative and Conjugative Elements (ICEs) coexist, ICETh1 encoding the DNA transfer apparatus and ICETh2, encoding a putative replication module. Here, we demonstrate that excision and integration of both elements depend on a single tyrosine recombinase encoded by ICETh2, and that excision is not required but improves the transfer of these elements to a recipient cell. These findings along with previous results suggest that ICETh1 and ICETh2 depend on each other for spreading among T. thermophilus by transjugation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio Baquedano
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, 28049, Spain
| | - Mario Mencía
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, 28049, Spain
| | - Alba Blesa
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Experimental Sciences, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, 28223, Spain
| | - Vincent Burrus
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - José Berenguerfi
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, 28049, Spain
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24
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Gladkikh AS, Feranchuk SI, Ponomareva AS, Bochalgin NO, Mironova LV. Antibiotic resistance in Vibrio cholerae El Tor strains isolated during cholera complications in Siberia and the Far East of Russia. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2019; 78:104096. [PMID: 31689544 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2019.104096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Currently, the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global trend and poses a severe threat to public health. The causative agent of cholera, a severe infectious disease with pandemic expansion, becomes more and more resistant to a wider range of drugs with every coming year. The Vibrio cholerae genome is highly flexible and adaptive; the acquisition of the SXT mobile element with a cluster of antibiotic resistance genes on it has marked a new stage in the adaptive evolution of the pathogen. The territory of Siberia and the Russian Far East is free of cholera; however, in the 1970s and 1990s a number of infection importation cases and acute outbreaks associated with the cholera importation were reported. The aim of this study was to describe the phenotypic characteristics and genetic determinants of AMR in V. cholerae strains isolated during epidemic complications in Siberia and the Far East of Russia, as well as to clarify the origin of the strains. The present research comprises analysis of nine V. cholerae El Tor strains isolated from patients and water sources during epidemic complications in Siberia and the Russian Far East in the 1990s. Here, we compared the phenotypic manifestations of antibiotic resistance among strains, harbored the resistance patterns in genomes; we also determined the structure, the type of SXT elements, and the mobilome profile based on the accepted classification. We identified that strains that caused outbreaks in Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 1999 had ICEVchCHN4210 type SXT element with deletion of some loci. The research shows that the integration of the genome, SNP and the mobilome, associated with antibiotic resistance, analyses is necessary to understand the cholera epidemiology, it also helps to establish the origin of strains. The study of resistance determinants features allowed to make a conclusion about the heterogeneity of V. cholerae strains that were isolated during outbreaks in Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 1999.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S Gladkikh
- Irkutsk antiplague research institute of Rospotrebnadzor, 78, Trillisser str., Irkutsk 664047, Russia.
| | - S I Feranchuk
- Irkutsk antiplague research institute of Rospotrebnadzor, 78, Trillisser str., Irkutsk 664047, Russia
| | - A S Ponomareva
- Irkutsk antiplague research institute of Rospotrebnadzor, 78, Trillisser str., Irkutsk 664047, Russia
| | - N O Bochalgin
- Irkutsk antiplague research institute of Rospotrebnadzor, 78, Trillisser str., Irkutsk 664047, Russia
| | - L V Mironova
- Irkutsk antiplague research institute of Rospotrebnadzor, 78, Trillisser str., Irkutsk 664047, Russia
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25
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Antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa - Mechanisms, epidemiology and evolution. Drug Resist Updat 2019; 44:100640. [PMID: 31492517 DOI: 10.1016/j.drup.2019.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 252] [Impact Index Per Article: 50.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Antibiotics are powerful drugs used in the treatment of bacterial infections. The inappropriate use of these medicines has driven the dissemination of antibiotic resistance (AR) in most bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen commonly involved in environmental- and difficult-to-treat hospital-acquired infections. This species is frequently resistant to several antibiotics, being in the "critical" category of the WHO's priority pathogens list for research and development of new antibiotics. In addition to a remarkable intrinsic resistance to several antibiotics, P. aeruginosa can acquire resistance through chromosomal mutations and acquisition of AR genes. P. aeruginosa has one of the largest bacterial genomes and possesses a significant assortment of genes acquired by horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which are frequently localized within integrons and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), such as transposons, insertion sequences, genomic islands, phages, plasmids and integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs). This genomic diversity results in a non-clonal population structure, punctuated by specific clones that are associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, the so-called high-risk clones. Acquisition of MGEs produces a fitness cost in the host, that can be eased over time by compensatory mutations during MGE-host coevolution. Even though plasmids and ICEs are important drivers of AR, the underlying evolutionary traits that promote this dissemination are poorly understood. In this review, we provide a comprehensive description of the main strategies involved in AR in P. aeruginosa and the leading drivers of HGT in this species. The most recently developed genomic tools that allowed a better understanding of the features contributing for the success of P. aeruginosa are discussed.
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Botelho J, Grosso F, Peixe L. WITHDRAWN: Antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa – mechanisms, epidemiology and evolution. Drug Resist Updat 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.drup.2019.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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27
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Rozwandowicz M, Brouwer MSM, Fischer J, Wagenaar JA, Gonzalez-Zorn B, Guerra B, Mevius DJ, Hordijk J. Plasmids carrying antimicrobial resistance genes in Enterobacteriaceae. J Antimicrob Chemother 2019; 73:1121-1137. [PMID: 29370371 DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkx488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 514] [Impact Index Per Article: 102.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is constantly evolving and horizontal gene transfer through plasmids plays a major role. The identification of plasmid characteristics and their association with different bacterial hosts provides crucial knowledge that is essential to understand the contribution of plasmids to the transmission of AMR determinants. Molecular identification of plasmid and strain genotypes elicits a distinction between spread of AMR genes by plasmids and dissemination of these genes by spread of bacterial clones. For this reason several methods are used to type the plasmids, e.g. PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT) or relaxase typing. Currently, there are 28 known plasmid types in Enterobacteriaceae distinguished by PBRT. Frequently reported plasmids [IncF, IncI, IncA/C, IncL (previously designated IncL/M), IncN and IncH] are the ones that bear the greatest variety of resistance genes. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of all known AMR-related plasmid families in Enterobacteriaceae, the resistance genes they carry and their geographical distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Rozwandowicz
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - M S M Brouwer
- Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - J Fischer
- Department of Biological Safety, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, BfR, Berlin, Germany
| | - J A Wagenaar
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - B Gonzalez-Zorn
- Department of Animal Health and VISAVET, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - B Guerra
- Department of Biological Safety, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, BfR, Berlin, Germany
| | - D J Mevius
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - J Hordijk
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Snyder ER, Alvarez-Narvaez S, Credille BC. Genetic characterization of susceptible and multi-drug resistant Mannheimia haemolytica isolated from high-risk stocker calves prior to and after antimicrobial metaphylaxis. Vet Microbiol 2019; 235:110-117. [PMID: 31282368 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2019.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2019] [Revised: 06/11/2019] [Accepted: 06/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) is a major threat to animal health and welfare in the cattle industry. Strains of Mannheimia haemolytica (Mh) that are resistant to multiple classes of antimicrobials are becoming a major concern in the beef industry, as the frequency of isolation of these strains has been increasing. Mobile genetic elements, such as integrative conjugative elements (ICE), are frequently implicated in this rapid increase in multi-drug resistance. The objectives of the current study were to determine the genetic relationship between the isolates collected at arrival before metaphylaxis and at revaccination after metaphylaxis, to identify which resistance genes might be present in these isolates, and to determine if they were carried on an ICE. Twenty calves culture positive for Mh at arrival and revaccination were identified, and a total of 48 isolates with unique susceptibility profiles (26 from arrival, and 22 from revaccination) were submitted for whole-genome sequencing (WGS). A phylogenetic tree was constructed, showing the arrival isolates falling into four clades, and all revaccination isolates within one clade. All revaccination isolates, and one arrival isolate, were positive for the presence of an ICE. Three different ICEs with resistance gene modules were identified. The resistance genes aphA1, strA, strB, sul2, floR, erm42, tetH/R, aadB, aadA25, blaOXA-2, msrE, mphE were all located within an ICE. The gene bla-ROB1 was also present in the isolates, but was not located within an ICE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily R Snyder
- Food Animal Health and Management Program, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 2200 College Station Road, Athens, GA, 30602, United States.
| | - Sonsiray Alvarez-Narvaez
- Department of Large Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 2200 College Station Road, Athens, GA, 30602, United States
| | - Brent C Credille
- Food Animal Health and Management Program, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 2200 College Station Road, Athens, GA, 30602, United States
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Transient Replication in Specialized Cells Favors Transfer of an Integrative and Conjugative Element. mBio 2019; 10:mBio.01133-19. [PMID: 31186329 PMCID: PMC6561031 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01133-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial evolution is driven to a large extent by horizontal gene transfer (HGT)—the processes that distribute genetic material between species rather than by vertical descent. The different elements and processes mediating HGT have been characterized in great molecular detail. In contrast, very little is known on adaptive features selecting HGT evolvability and fitness optimization. By studying the molecular behavior of an integrated mobile DNA of the class of integrative and conjugative elements in individual Pseudomonas putida donor bacteria, we report here how transient replication of the element after its excision from the chromosome is favorable for its transfer success. Since successful transfer into a new recipient is a measure of the element’s fitness, transient replication may have been selected as an adaptive benefit for more-optimal transfer. Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are widespread mobile DNA within bacterial genomes, whose lifestyle is relatively poorly understood. ICEs transmit vertically through donor cell chromosome replication, but in order to transfer, they have to excise from the chromosome. The excision step makes ICEs prone to loss, in case the donor cell divides and the ICE is not replicated. By adapting the system of LacI-cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) binding to lacO operator arrays, we analyze here the process of excision and transfer of the ICE for 3-chlorobenzoate degradation (ICEclc) in individual cells of the bacterium Pseudomonas putida. We provide evidence that ICEclc excises exclusively in a subset of specialized transfer-competent cells. ICEclc copy numbers in transfer-competent cells were higher than in regular nontransferring cells but were reduced in mutants lacking the ICE oriT1 origin of transfer, the ICE DNA relaxase, or the excision recombination sites. Consistently, transfer-competent cells showed a higher proportion without any observable LacI-CFP foci, suggesting ICEclc loss, but this proportion was independent of the ICE relaxase or the ICE origins of transfer. Our results thus indicated that the excised ICE becomes transiently replicated in transfer-competent cells, with up to six observable copies from LacI-CFP fluorescent focus measurements. Most of the observed ICEclc transfer to ICE-free P. putida recipients occurred from donors displaying 3 to 4 ICE copies, which constitute a minority among all transfer-competent cells. This finding suggests, therefore, that replication of the excised ICEclc in donors is beneficial for transfer fitness to recipient cells.
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30
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Hirose J, Fujihara H, Watanabe T, Kimura N, Suenaga H, Futagami T, Goto M, Suyama A, Furukawa K. Biphenyl/PCB Degrading bph Genes of Ten Bacterial Strains Isolated from Biphenyl-Contaminated Soil in Kitakyushu, Japan: Comparative and Dynamic Features as Integrative Conjugative Elements (ICEs). Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10050404. [PMID: 31137913 PMCID: PMC6563109 DOI: 10.3390/genes10050404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2019] [Revised: 05/18/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We sequenced the entire genomes of ten biphenyl/PCB degrading bacterial strains (KF strains) isolated from biphenyl-contaminated soil in Kitakyushu, Japan. All the strains were Gram-negative bacteria belonging to β- and γ-proteobacteria. Out of the ten strains, nine strains carried a biphenyl catabolic bph gene cluster as integrative conjugative elements (ICEs), and they were classified into four groups based on the structural features of the bph genes. Group I (five strains) possessed bph genes that were very similar to the ones in Pseudomonasfurukawaii KF707 (formerly Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707), which is one of the best characterized biphenyl-utilizing strains. This group of strains carried salicylate catabolic sal genes that were approximately 6-kb downstream of the bph genes. Group II (two strains) possessed bph and sal genes similar to the ones in KF707, but these strains lacked the bphX region between bphC and bphD, which is involved in the downstream catabolism of biphenyl. These bph-sal clusters in groups I and II were located on an integrative conjugative element that was larger than 110 kb, and they were named ICEbph-sal. Our previous study demonstrated that the ICEbph-sal of Pseudomonas putida KF715 in group II existed both in an integrated form in the chromosome (referred to as ICEbph-salKF715 (integrated)) and in a extrachromosomal circular form (referred to as ICEbph-sal (circular)) (previously called pKF715A, 483 kb) in the stationary culture. The ICEbph-sal was transferred from KF715 into P. putida AC30 and P. putida KT2440 with high frequency, and it was maintained stably as an extrachromosomal circular form. The ICEbph-salKF715 (circular) in these transconjugants was further transferred to P. putida F39/D and then integrated into the chromosome in one or two copies. Meanwhile, group III (one strain) possessed bph genes, but not sal genes. The nucleotide sequences of the bph genes in this group were less conserved compared to the genes of the strains belonging to groups I and II. Currently, there is no evidence to indicate that the bph genes in group III are carried by a mobile element. Group IV (two strains) carried bph genes as ICEs (59–61 kb) that were similar to the genes found in Tn4371 from Cupriavidus oxalacticus A5 and ICEKKS1024677 from the Acidovorax sp. strain KKS102. Our study found that bph gene islands have integrative functions, are transferred among soil bacteria, and are diversified through modification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Hirose
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan.
| | - Hidehiko Fujihara
- Department of Food and Fermentation Sciences, Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences, Beppu University, Beppu 874-8501, Japan.
| | - Takahito Watanabe
- Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji 611-0011, Japan.
| | - Nobutada Kimura
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba 305-8566, Japan.
| | - Hikaru Suenaga
- Biotechnology Research Institute for Drug Discovery, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo 135-0064, Japan.
| | - Taiki Futagami
- Education and Research Center for Fermentation Studies, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan.
| | - Masatoshi Goto
- Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Saga 840-8502, Japan.
| | - Akiko Suyama
- Department of Food and Fermentation Sciences, Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences, Beppu University, Beppu 874-8501, Japan.
| | - Kensuke Furukawa
- Department of Food and Fermentation Sciences, Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences, Beppu University, Beppu 874-8501, Japan.
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31
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Botelho J, Roberts AP, León-Sampedro R, Grosso F, Peixe L. Carbapenemases on the move: it's good to be on ICEs. Mob DNA 2018; 9:37. [PMID: 30574213 PMCID: PMC6299553 DOI: 10.1186/s13100-018-0141-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 11/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance is often mediated by mobile genetic elements. Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are the most abundant conjugative elements among prokaryotes. However, the contribution of ICEs to horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance has been largely unexplored. Results Here we report that ICEs belonging to mating-pair formation (MPF) classes G and T are highly prevalent among the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, contributing to the spread of carbapenemase-encoding genes (CEGs). Most CEGs of the MPFG class were encoded within class I integrons, which co-harbour genes conferring resistance to other antibiotics. The majority of the integrons were located within Tn3-like and composite transposons. Conserved attachment site could be predicted for the MPFG class ICEs. MPFT class ICEs carried the CEGs within composite transposons which were not associated with integrons. Conclusions The data presented here provides a global snapshot of the different CEG-harbouring ICEs and sheds light on the underappreciated contribution of these elements to the evolution and dissemination of antibiotic resistance on P. aeruginosa. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13100-018-0141-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Botelho
- 1UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, Laboratório de Microbiologia, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Adam P Roberts
- 2Department of Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.,3Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Ricardo León-Sampedro
- 4Department of Microbiology, University Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain.,Biomedical Research Networking Center for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBER-ESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Filipa Grosso
- 1UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, Laboratório de Microbiologia, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Luísa Peixe
- 1UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, Laboratório de Microbiologia, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
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32
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Yano H, Shintani M, Tomita M, Suzuki H, Oshima T. Reconsidering plasmid maintenance factors for computational plasmid design. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2018; 17:70-81. [PMID: 30619542 PMCID: PMC6312765 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2018] [Revised: 12/08/2018] [Accepted: 12/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmids are genetic parasites of microorganisms. The genomes of naturally occurring plasmids are expected to be polished via natural selection to achieve long-term persistence in the microbial cell population. However, plasmid genomes are extremely diverse, and the rules governing plasmid genomes are not fully understood. Therefore, computationally designing plasmid genomes optimized for model and nonmodel organisms remains challenging. Here, we summarize current knowledge of the plasmid genome organization and the factors that can affect plasmid persistence, with the aim of constructing synthetic plasmids for use in gram-negative bacteria. Then, we introduce publicly available resources, plasmid data, and bioinformatics tools that are useful for computational plasmid design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hirokazu Yano
- Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2-1-1, Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Masaki Shintani
- Department of Engineering, Graduate School of Integrated Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan
- Department of Bioscience, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan
| | - Masaru Tomita
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 14-1, Baba-cho, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0035, Japan
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, 5322, Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0882, Japan
| | - Haruo Suzuki
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 14-1, Baba-cho, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0035, Japan
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, 5322, Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0882, Japan
| | - Taku Oshima
- Department of Biotechnology, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180, Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
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33
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Partridge SR, Kwong SM, Firth N, Jensen SO. Mobile Genetic Elements Associated with Antimicrobial Resistance. Clin Microbiol Rev 2018; 31:e00088-17. [PMID: 30068738 PMCID: PMC6148190 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00088-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1174] [Impact Index Per Article: 195.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, particularly those that are multiresistant, are an increasing major health care problem around the world. It is now abundantly clear that both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria are able to meet the evolutionary challenge of combating antimicrobial chemotherapy, often by acquiring preexisting resistance determinants from the bacterial gene pool. This is achieved through the concerted activities of mobile genetic elements able to move within or between DNA molecules, which include insertion sequences, transposons, and gene cassettes/integrons, and those that are able to transfer between bacterial cells, such as plasmids and integrative conjugative elements. Together these elements play a central role in facilitating horizontal genetic exchange and therefore promote the acquisition and spread of resistance genes. This review aims to outline the characteristics of the major types of mobile genetic elements involved in acquisition and spread of antibiotic resistance in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, focusing on the so-called ESKAPEE group of organisms (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp., and Escherichia coli), which have become the most problematic hospital pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sally R Partridge
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Stephen M Kwong
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Neville Firth
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Slade O Jensen
- Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Antibiotic Resistance & Mobile Elements Group, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Characterization of a Novel SXT/R391 Integrative and Conjugative Element Carrying cfr, blaCTX-M-65, fosA3, and aac(6')-Ib-cr in Proteus mirabilis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2018; 62:AAC.00849-18. [PMID: 29967018 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00849-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A novel 139,487-bp SXT/R391 integrative and conjugative element, ICEPmiChnBCP11, was characterized in Proteus mirabilis of swine origin in China. ICEPmiChnBCP11 harbors 20 different antimicrobial resistance genes, including the clinically important rRNA methyltransferase gene cfr, the extended-spectrum β-lactamase gene blaCTX-M-65, fosfomycin resistance gene fosA3, and fluoroquinolone resistance gene aac(6')-Ib-cr An ISPpu12-mediated composite transposon containing various resistance genes and 10 copies of IS26 is inserted in hot spot 4. ICEPmiChnBCP11 was successfully transferred to Escherichia coli.
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Santoro F, Romeo A, Pozzi G, Iannelli F. Excision and Circularization of Integrative Conjugative Element Tn 5253 of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:1779. [PMID: 30108581 PMCID: PMC6079316 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The integrative conjugative element (ICE) Tn5253 of Streptococcus pneumoniae, conferring resistance to tetracycline and chloramphenicol, was found integrated at a 83-bp specific target site (attB) located in the rbgA gene of the pneumococcal chromosome. PCR analysis of Tn5253-carrying strains showed evidence of precise excision of Tn5253 from the pneumococcal chromosome with production of (i) circular forms of the ICE in which the ends were joined by a 84-bp sequence (attTn), and (ii) reconstituted chromosomal attB. When integrated into the chromosome, Tn5253 was flanked by attL, identical to attB, and attR, identical to attTn. Circular forms of Tn5253 were present at a concentration of 3.8 × 10-4 copies per chromosome, whereas reconstituted attB sites were at 3.0 × 10-4 copies per chromosome. Deletion of int-xis of Tn5253 abolished production of circular forms (<7.1 × 10-6 copies per chromosome) and was associated to the lack of Tn5253 conjugal transfer suggesting, as expected, that Tn5253 circular form acts as a conjugation intermediate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Santoro
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Alessandra Romeo
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Gianni Pozzi
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Francesco Iannelli
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
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Agúndez L, Zárate-Pérez F, Meier AF, Bardelli M, Llosa M, Escalante CR, Linden RM, Henckaerts E. Exchange of functional domains between a bacterial conjugative relaxase and the integrase of the human adeno-associated virus. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200841. [PMID: 30016371 PMCID: PMC6049929 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Endonucleases of the HUH family are specialized in processing single-stranded DNA in a variety of evolutionarily highly conserved biological processes related to mobile genetic elements. They share a structurally defined catalytic domain for site-specific nicking and strand-transfer reactions, which is often linked to the activities of additional functional domains, contributing to their overall versatility. To assess if these HUH domains could be interchanged, we created a chimeric protein from two distantly related HUH endonucleases, containing the N-terminal HUH domain of the bacterial conjugative relaxase TrwC and the C-terminal DNA helicase domain of the human adeno-associated virus (AAV) replicase and site-specific integrase. The purified chimeric protein retained oligomerization properties and DNA helicase activities similar to Rep68, while its DNA binding specificity and cleaving-joining activity at oriT was similar to TrwC. Interestingly, the chimeric protein could catalyse site-specific integration in bacteria with an efficiency comparable to that of TrwC, while the HUH domain of TrwC alone was unable to catalyze this reaction, implying that the Rep68 C-terminal helicase domain is complementing the TrwC HUH domain to achieve site-specific integration into TrwC targets in bacteria. Our results illustrate how HUH domains could have acquired through evolution other domains in order to attain new roles, contributing to the functional flexibility observed in this protein superfamily.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leticia Agúndez
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Francisco Zárate-Pérez
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Anita F. Meier
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Martino Bardelli
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Matxalen Llosa
- Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotecnología de Cantabria (IBBTEC), Universidad de Cantabria-CSIC-SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
- * E-mail: (EH); (ML)
| | - Carlos R. Escalante
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
| | - R. Michael Linden
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Els Henckaerts
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (EH); (ML)
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Piña-Iturbe A, Ulloa-Allendes D, Pardo-Roa C, Coronado-Arrázola I, Salazar-Echegarai FJ, Sclavi B, González PA, Bueno SM. Comparative and phylogenetic analysis of a novel family of Enterobacteriaceae-associated genomic islands that share a conserved excision/integration module. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10292. [PMID: 29980701 PMCID: PMC6035254 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28537-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Genomic Islands (GIs) are DNA regions acquired through horizontal gene transfer that encode advantageous traits for bacteria. Many GIs harbor genes that encode the molecular machinery required for their excision from the bacterial chromosome. Notably, the excision/integration dynamics of GIs may modulate the virulence of some pathogens. Here, we report a novel family of GIs found in plant and animal Enterobacteriaceae pathogens that share genes with those found in ROD21, a pathogenicity island whose excision is involved in the virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis. In these GIs we identified a conserved set of genes that includes an excision/integration module, suggesting that they are excisable. Indeed, we found that GIs within carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 KP35 and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O127:H6 E2348/69 are excised from the bacterial genome. In addition to putative virulence factors, these GIs encode conjugative transfer-related proteins and short and full-length homologues of the global transcriptional regulator H-NS. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the identified GIs likely originated in phytopathogenic bacteria. Taken together, our findings indicate that these GIs are excisable and may play a role in bacterial interactions with their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Piña-Iturbe
- Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Diego Ulloa-Allendes
- Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Catalina Pardo-Roa
- Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Irenice Coronado-Arrázola
- Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Francisco J Salazar-Echegarai
- Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Bianca Sclavi
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Pharmacologie Appliquée, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 8113, École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, Cachan, France
| | - Pablo A González
- Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Susan M Bueno
- Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
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Redefinition and Unification of the SXT/R391 Family of Integrative and Conjugative Elements. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018; 84:AEM.00485-18. [PMID: 29654185 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00485-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) of the SXT/R391 family are key drivers of the spread of antibiotic resistance in Vibrio cholerae, the infectious agent of cholera, and other pathogenic bacteria. The SXT/R391 family of ICEs was defined based on the conservation of a core set of 52 genes and site-specific integration into the 5' end of the chromosomal gene prfC Hence, the integrase gene int has been intensively used as a marker to detect SXT/R391 ICEs in clinical isolates. ICEs sharing most core genes but differing by their integration site and integrase gene have been recently reported and excluded from the SXT/R391 family. Here we explored the prevalence and diversity of atypical ICEs in GenBank databases and their relationship with typical SXT/R391 ICEs. We found atypical ICEs in V. cholerae isolates that predate the emergence and expansion of typical SXT/R391 ICEs in the mid-1980s in seventh-pandemic toxigenic V. cholerae strains O1 and O139. Our analyses revealed that while atypical ICEs are not associated with antibiotic resistance genes, they often carry cation efflux pumps, suggesting heavy metal resistance. Atypical ICEs constitute a polyphyletic group likely because of occasional recombination events with typical ICEs. Furthermore, we show that the alternative integration and excision genes of atypical ICEs remain under the control of SetCD, the main activator of the conjugative functions of SXT/R391 ICEs. Together, these observations indicate that substitution of the integration/excision module and change of specificity of integration do not preclude atypical ICEs from inclusion into the SXT/R391 family.IMPORTANCEVibrio cholerae is the causative agent of cholera, an acute intestinal infection that remains to this day a world public health threat. Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) of the SXT/R391 family have played a major role in spreading antimicrobial resistance in seventh-pandemic V. cholerae but also in several species of Enterobacteriaceae Most epidemiological surveys use the integrase gene as a marker to screen for SXT/R391 ICEs in clinical or environmental strains. With the recent reports of closely related elements that carry an alternative integrase gene, it became urgent to investigate whether ICEs that have been left out of the family are a liability for the accuracy of such screenings. In this study, based on comparative genomics, we broaden the SXT/R391 family of ICEs to include atypical ICEs that are often associated with heavy metal resistance.
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Gorovtsov AV, Sazykin IS, Sazykina MA. The influence of heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls pollution on the development of antibiotic resistance in soils. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2018; 25:9283-9292. [PMID: 29453715 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-1465-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2017] [Accepted: 02/01/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The minireview is devoted to the analysis of the influence of soil pollution with heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the distribution of antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs) in soil microbiomes. It is shown that the best understanding of ARGs distribution process requires studying the influence of pollutants on this process in natural microbiocenoses. Heavy metals promote co-selection of genes determining resistance to them together with ARGs in the same mobile elements of a bacterial genome, but the majority of studies focus on agricultural soils enriched with ARGs originating from manure. Studying nonagricultural soils would clear mechanisms of ARGs transfer in natural and anthropogenically transformed environments and highlight the role of antibiotic-producing bacteria. PAHs make a considerable shift in soil microbiomes leading to an increase in the number of Actinobacteria which are the source of antibiotics formation and bear multiple ARGs. The soils polluted with PAHs can be a selective medium for bacteria resistant to antibiotics, and the level of ARGs expression is much higher. PCBs are accumulated in soils and significantly alter the specific structure of soil microbiocenoses. In such soils, representatives of the genera Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Alcanivorax dominate, and the ability to degrade PCBs is connected to horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and high level of genomic plasticity. The attention is also focused on the need to study the properties of the soil having an impact on the bioavailability of pollutants and, as a result, on resistome of soil microorganisms.
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The Obscure World of Integrative and Mobilizable Elements, Highly Widespread Elements that Pirate Bacterial Conjugative Systems. Genes (Basel) 2017; 8:genes8110337. [PMID: 29165361 PMCID: PMC5704250 DOI: 10.3390/genes8110337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2017] [Revised: 11/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Conjugation is a key mechanism of bacterial evolution that involves mobile genetic elements. Recent findings indicated that the main actors of conjugative transfer are not the well-known conjugative or mobilizable plasmids but are the integrated elements. This paper reviews current knowledge on “integrative and mobilizable elements” (IMEs) that have recently been shown to be highly diverse and highly widespread but are still rarely described. IMEs encode their own excision and integration and use the conjugation machinery of unrelated co-resident conjugative element for their own transfer. Recent studies revealed a much more complex and much more diverse lifecycle than initially thought. Besides their main transmission as integrated elements, IMEs probably use plasmid-like strategies to ensure their maintenance after excision. Their interaction with conjugative elements reveals not only harmless hitchhikers but also hunters that use conjugative elements as target for their integration or harmful parasites that subvert the conjugative apparatus of incoming elements to invade cells that harbor them. IMEs carry genes conferring various functions, such as resistance to antibiotics, that can enhance the fitness of their hosts and that contribute to their maintenance in bacterial populations. Taken as a whole, IMEs are probably major contributors to bacterial evolution.
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41
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Wang P, Zeng Z, Wang W, Wen Z, Li J, Wang X. Dissemination and loss of a biofilm-related genomic island in marine Pseudoalteromonas mediated by integrative and conjugative elements. Environ Microbiol 2017; 19:4620-4637. [PMID: 28892292 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Revised: 08/31/2017] [Accepted: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Acquisition of genomic islands (GIs) plays a central role in the diversification and adaptation of bacteria. Some GIs can be mobilized in trans by integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) or conjugative plasmids if the GIs carry specific transfer-related sequences. However, the transfer mechanism of GIs lacking such elements remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigated the transmissibility of a GI found in a coral-associated marine bacterium. This GI does not carry genes with transfer functions, but it carries four genes required for robust biofilm formation. Notably, this GI is inserted in the integration site for SXT/R391 ICEs. We demonstrated that acquisition of an SXT/R391 ICE results in either a tandem GI/ICE arrangement or the complete displacement of the GI. The GI displacement by the ICE greatly reduces biofilm formation. In contrast, the tandem integration of the ICE with the GI in cis allows the GI to hijack the transfer machinery of the ICE to excise, transfer and re-integrate into a new host. Collectively, our findings reveal that the integration of an ICE into a GI integration site enables rapid genome dynamics and a new mechanism by which SXT/R391 ICEs can augment genome plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengxia Wang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
| | - Zhenshun Zeng
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
| | - Weiquan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhongling Wen
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jie Li
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
| | - Xiaoxue Wang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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Cury J, Touchon M, Rocha EPC. Integrative and conjugative elements and their hosts: composition, distribution and organization. Nucleic Acids Res 2017; 45:8943-8956. [PMID: 28911112 PMCID: PMC5587801 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Conjugation of single-stranded DNA drives horizontal gene transfer between bacteria and was widely studied in conjugative plasmids. The organization and function of integrative and conjugative elements (ICE), even if they are more abundant, was only studied in a few model systems. Comparative genomics of ICE has been precluded by the difficulty in finding and delimiting these elements. Here, we present the results of a method that circumvents these problems by requiring only the identification of the conjugation genes and the species’ pan-genome. We delimited 200 ICEs and this allowed the first large-scale characterization of these elements. We quantified the presence in ICEs of a wide set of functions associated with the biology of mobile genetic elements, including some that are typically associated with plasmids, such as partition and replication. Protein sequence similarity networks and phylogenetic analyses revealed that ICEs are structured in functional modules. Integrases and conjugation systems have different evolutionary histories, even if the gene repertoires of ICEs can be grouped in function of conjugation types. Our characterization of the composition and organization of ICEs paves the way for future functional and evolutionary analyses of their cargo genes, composed of a majority of unknown function genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Cury
- Microbial Evolutionary Genomics, Institut Pasteur, 28, rue du Dr Roux, Paris 75015, France.,CNRS, UMR3525, 28, rue Dr Roux, Paris 75015, France
| | - Marie Touchon
- Microbial Evolutionary Genomics, Institut Pasteur, 28, rue du Dr Roux, Paris 75015, France.,CNRS, UMR3525, 28, rue Dr Roux, Paris 75015, France
| | - Eduardo P C Rocha
- Microbial Evolutionary Genomics, Institut Pasteur, 28, rue du Dr Roux, Paris 75015, France.,CNRS, UMR3525, 28, rue Dr Roux, Paris 75015, France
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Arnion H, Korkut DN, Masachis Gelo S, Chabas S, Reignier J, Iost I, Darfeuille F. Mechanistic insights into type I toxin antitoxin systems in Helicobacter pylori: the importance of mRNA folding in controlling toxin expression. Nucleic Acids Res 2017; 45:4782-4795. [PMID: 28077560 PMCID: PMC5416894 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw1343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Accepted: 12/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Type I toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems have been identified in a wide range of bacterial genomes. Here, we report the characterization of a new type I TA system present on the chromosome of the major human gastric pathogen, Helicobacter pylori. We show that the aapA1 gene encodes a 30 amino acid peptide whose artificial expression in H. pylori induces cell death. The synthesis of this toxin is prevented by the transcription of an antitoxin RNA, named IsoA1, expressed on the opposite strand of the toxin gene. We further reveal additional layers of post-transcriptional regulation that control toxin expression: (i) transcription of the aapA1 gene generates a full-length transcript whose folding impedes translation (ii) a 3΄ end processing of this message generates a shorter transcript that, after a structural rearrangement, becomes translatable (iii) but this rearrangement also leads to the formation of two stem-loop structures allowing formation of an extended duplex with IsoA1 via kissing-loop interactions. This interaction ensures both the translation inhibition of the AapA1 active message and its rapid degradation by RNase III, thus preventing toxin synthesis under normal growth conditions. Finally, a search for homologous mRNA structures identifies similar TA systems in a large number of Helicobacter and Campylobacter genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hélène Arnion
- INSERM U1212, CNRS UMR5320, Univ. Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory, 146 rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
| | - Dursun Nizam Korkut
- INSERM U1212, CNRS UMR5320, Univ. Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory, 146 rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
| | - Sara Masachis Gelo
- INSERM U1212, CNRS UMR5320, Univ. Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory, 146 rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
| | - Sandrine Chabas
- INSERM U1212, CNRS UMR5320, Univ. Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory, 146 rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
| | - Jérémy Reignier
- INSERM U1212, CNRS UMR5320, Univ. Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory, 146 rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
| | - Isabelle Iost
- INSERM U1212, CNRS UMR5320, Univ. Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory, 146 rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
| | - Fabien Darfeuille
- INSERM U1212, CNRS UMR5320, Univ. Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory, 146 rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France
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Identification and characterization of new members of the SXT/R391 family of integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) in Proteus mirabilis. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2017; 50:242-246. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2017.01.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Revised: 01/17/2017] [Accepted: 01/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Delavat F, Miyazaki R, Carraro N, Pradervand N, van der Meer JR. The hidden life of integrative and conjugative elements. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2017; 41:512-537. [PMID: 28369623 PMCID: PMC5812530 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fux008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Accepted: 02/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are widespread mobile DNA that transmit both vertically, in a host-integrated state, and horizontally, through excision and transfer to new recipients. Different families of ICEs have been discovered with more or less restricted host ranges, which operate by similar mechanisms but differ in regulatory networks, evolutionary origin and the types of variable genes they contribute to the host. Based on reviewing recent experimental data, we propose a general model of ICE life style that explains the transition between vertical and horizontal transmission as a result of a bistable decision in the ICE-host partnership. In the large majority of cells, the ICE remains silent and integrated, but hidden at low to very low frequencies in the population specialized host cells appear in which the ICE starts its process of horizontal transmission. This bistable process leads to host cell differentiation, ICE excision and transfer, when suitable recipients are present. The ratio of ICE bistability (i.e. ratio of horizontal to vertical transmission) is the outcome of a balance between fitness costs imposed by the ICE horizontal transmission process on the host cell, and selection for ICE distribution (i.e. ICE 'fitness'). From this emerges a picture of ICEs as elements that have adapted to a mostly confined life style within their host, but with a very effective and dynamic transfer from a subpopulation of dedicated cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Delavat
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Ryo Miyazaki
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan
| | - Nicolas Carraro
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Pradervand
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne Switzerland
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Haskett TL, Ramsay JP, Bekuma AA, Sullivan JT, O'Hara GW, Terpolilli JJ. Evolutionary persistence of tripartite integrative and conjugative elements. Plasmid 2017; 92:30-36. [DOI: 10.1016/j.plasmid.2017.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Revised: 06/28/2017] [Accepted: 06/28/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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47
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Beyond the canonical strategies of horizontal gene transfer in prokaryotes. Curr Opin Microbiol 2017; 38:95-105. [PMID: 28600959 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2017.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2017] [Revised: 04/24/2017] [Accepted: 04/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Efforts to identify and characterize strategies for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in prokaryotes could have overlooked some mechanisms that do not entirely fit in with the canonical ones most often described (conjugation of plasmids, phage transduction and transformation). The difficulty in distinguishing the different HGT strategies could have contributed to underestimate their real extent. Here we review non classical HGT strategies: some that require mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and others independent of MGE. Among those strategies that require MGEs, there is a range of newly reported, hybrid and intermediate MGEs mobilizing only their own DNA, others that mobilize preferentially bacterial DNA, or both. Considering HGT strategies independent of MGE, a few are even not restricted to DNA transfer, but can also mobilize other molecules. This review considers those HGT strategies that are less commonly dealt with in the literature. The real impact of these elements could, in some conditions, be more relevant than previously thought.
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Burrus V. Mechanisms of stabilization of integrative and conjugative elements. Curr Opin Microbiol 2017; 38:44-50. [PMID: 28482230 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2017.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Revised: 03/17/2017] [Accepted: 03/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are nearly ubiquitous in microbial genomes and influence their evolution by providing adaptive functions to their host and by enhancing genome plasticity and diversification. For a long-time, it has been assumed that by integrating into the chromosome of their host, these self-transmissible elements were passively inherited in subsequent generations. Recent findings point to a much more complex story that includes multiple strategies used by ICEs to leverage maintenance in cell populations such as transient replication, active partition of the excised circular intermediate or disassembly into multiple parts scattered in the chromosome. Here I review these diverse mechanisms of stabilization in the general context of ICEs belonging to diverse families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Burrus
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada.
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Ramsay JP, Firth N. Diverse mobilization strategies facilitate transfer of non-conjugative mobile genetic elements. Curr Opin Microbiol 2017; 38:1-9. [PMID: 28391142 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2017.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/14/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Conjugation is a dominant mechanism of horizontal gene transfer and substantially contributes to the plasticity and evolvability of prokaryotic genomes. The impact of conjugation on genetic flux extends well beyond self-transmissible conjugative elements, because non-conjugative 'mobilizable elements' utilize other elements' conjugative apparatus for transfer. Bacterial genome comparisons highlight plasmids as vehicles for dissemination of pathogenesis and antimicrobial-resistance determinants, but for most non-conjugative plasmids, a mobilization mechanism is not apparent. Recently we discovered many Staphylococcus aureus plasmids lacking mobilization genes carry oriT sequences that mimic those on conjugative plasmids, suggesting that significantly more elements may be mobilizable than previously recognized. Here we summarize our findings, review the diverse mobilization strategies employed by mobile genetic elements and discuss implications for future gene-transfer research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua P Ramsay
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
| | - Neville Firth
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Transposase-Mediated Excision, Conjugative Transfer, and Diversity of ICE 6013 Elements in Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol 2017; 199:JB.00629-16. [PMID: 28138100 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00629-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2016] [Accepted: 01/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
ICE6013 represents one of two families of integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) identified in the pan-genome of the human and animal pathogen Staphylococcus aureus Here we investigated the excision and conjugation functions of ICE6013 and further characterized the diversity of this element. ICE6013 excision was not significantly affected by growth, temperature, pH, or UV exposure and did not depend on recA The IS30-like DDE transposase (Tpase; encoded by orf1 and orf2) of ICE6013 must be uninterrupted for excision to occur, whereas disrupting three of the other open reading frames (ORFs) on the element significantly affects the level of excision. We demonstrate that ICE6013 conjugatively transfers to different S. aureus backgrounds at frequencies approaching that of the conjugative plasmid pGO1. We found that excision is required for conjugation, that not all S. aureus backgrounds are successful recipients, and that transconjugants acquire the ability to transfer ICE6013 Sequencing of chromosomal integration sites in serially passaged transconjugants revealed a significant integration site preference for a 15-bp AT-rich palindromic consensus sequence, which surrounds the 3-bp target site that is duplicated upon integration. A sequence analysis of ICE6013 from different host strains of S. aureus and from eight other species of staphylococci identified seven divergent subfamilies of ICE6013 that include sequences previously classified as a transposon, a plasmid, and various ICEs. In summary, these results indicate that the IS30-like Tpase functions as the ICE6013 recombinase and that ICE6013 represents a diverse family of mobile genetic elements that mediate conjugation in staphylococci.IMPORTANCE Integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) encode the abilities to integrate into and excise from bacterial chromosomes and plasmids and mediate conjugation between bacteria. As agents of horizontal gene transfer, ICEs may affect bacterial evolution. ICE6013 represents one of two known families of ICEs in the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, but its core functions of excision and conjugation are not well studied. Here, we show that ICE6013 depends on its IS30-like DDE transposase for excision, which is unique among ICEs, and we demonstrate the conjugative transfer and integration site preference of ICE6013 A sequence analysis revealed that ICE6013 has diverged into seven subfamilies that are dispersed among staphylococci.
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