<i>Enterococcus faecalis</i>strains with compromised CRISPR-Cas defense emerge under antibiotic selection for a CRISPR-targeted plasmid

Huo, Wenwen; Vj, Price; Sharifi, Ardalan; Zhang, MQ; Palmer, Kelli L.

doi:10.1101/220467

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 84 publications

(148 reference statements)

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“…Our finding that beneficial plasmids can persist in the presence of bacterial immunity is supported by a recent study showing that, under antibiotic pressure, resistance plasmids can persist in the presence of CRISPR-Cas [43]. Additionally, our result, suggesting that bacterial immunity can impose a significant burden on plasmids, aligns with previous bioinformatic studies and experimental findings [15,20,43].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Assessing the role of bacterial innate and adaptive immunity as barriers to conjugative plasmids

Siedentop,

Mediavilla,

Kouyos

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Plasmids are ubiquitous mobile genetic elements, that can be either costly or beneficial for their bacterial host. In response to constant viral threat, bacteria have evolved various immune systems, such as the prevalent restriction modification (RM) (innate immunity) and CRISPR-Cas systems (adaptive immunity). At the molecular level, both systems also target plasmids, but the consequences of these interactions for plasmid spread are unclear. Using a modeling approach, we show that RM and CRISPR-Cas are effective as barriers against the spread of costly plasmids, but not against beneficial ones. Consequently, bacteria can profit from the adaptive advantages that beneficial plasmids confer even in the presence of bacterial immunity. While plasmids that are costly for bacteria may persist for a certain period in the bacterial population, RM and CRISPR-Cas pose a substantial burden for such plasmids, which can eventually drive them to extinction. Finally, we demonstrate that the selection pressure imposed by bacterial immunity on costly plasmids can be circumvented through a diversity of escape mechanisms and highlight how plasmid carriage might be common despite bacterial immunity. In summary, the population-level outcome of interactions between plasmids and defense systems in a bacterial population is closely tied to plasmid cost: Beneficial plasmids can persist at high prevalence in bacterial populations despite defense systems, while costly plasmids may face substantial reduction in prevalence or even extinction.

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