Natural and Artificial Strategies to Control the Conjugative Transmission of Plasmids

Getino, María; Cruz, Fernando de la

doi:10.1128/9781555819743.ch3

Cited by 20 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 258 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Specifically, the pifC gene of IncF and IncI plasmids, present in a high proportion of E. coli clinical and environmental isolates (de Toro et al, 2014 ), might be at least partially responsible for the low abundance of IncW or IncP plasmids in these populations. FI factors are just one of the many factors that affect plasmid-plasmid interactions (Getino and de la Cruz, 2017 ). It is important to study these interactions to understand how plasmids, and their attached antimicrobial resistance genes, disseminate in the environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bacteria display a series of mechanisms to control conjugative DNA transfer, as they do for any other physiological process (Getino and de la Cruz, 2017 ). If properly manipulated, these mechanisms may be useful to prevent dissemination of antibiotic resistance determinants, which are mainly transferred by conjugation (Waters, 1999 ; Norman et al, 2009 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

PifC and Osa, Plasmid Weapons against Rival Conjugative Coupling Proteins

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bacteria display a variety of mechanisms to control plasmid conjugation. Among them, fertility inhibition (FI) systems prevent conjugation of co-resident plasmids within donor cells. Analysis of the mechanisms of inhibition between conjugative plasmids could provide new alternatives to fight antibiotic resistance dissemination. In this work, inhibition of conjugation of broad host range IncW plasmids was analyzed in the presence of a set of co-resident plasmids. Strong FI systems against plasmid R388 conjugation were found in IncF/MOBF12 as well as in IncI/MOBP12 plasmids, represented by plasmids F and R64, respectively. In both cases, the responsible gene was pifC, known also to be involved in FI of IncP plasmids and Agrobacterium T-DNA transfer to plant cells. It was also discovered that the R388 gene osa, which affects T-DNA transfer, also prevented conjugation of IncP-1/MOBP11 plasmids represented by plasmids RP4 and R751. Conjugation experiments of different mobilizable plasmids, helped by either FI-susceptible or FI-resistant transfer systems, demonstrated that the conjugative component affected by both PifC and Osa was the type IV conjugative coupling protein. In addition, in silico analysis of FI proteins suggests that they represent recent acquisitions of conjugative plasmids, i.e., are not shared by members of the same plasmid species. This implies that FI are rapidly-moving accessory genes, possibly acting on evolutionary fights between plasmids for the colonization of specific hosts.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PifC and Osa, Plasmid Weapons against Rival Conjugative Coupling Proteins

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We and others anticipate that future research will continue in this area, driven in large part by the need to prevent and treat resistant infections (Getino and de la Cruz 2018 ). Methods to effectively and safely cure plasmids have the potential to diminish the severity of the impact of drug-resistant infections.…”

Section: Future Of Plasmid Curing and Anti-plasmid Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance: anti-plasmid and plasmid curing

Buckner

Ciusa

Piddock

2018

FEMS Microbiology Reviews

164

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global problem hindering treatment of bacterial infections, rendering many aspects of modern medicine less effective. AMR genes (ARGs) are frequently located on plasmids, which are self-replicating elements of DNA. They are often transmissible between bacteria, and some have spread globally. Novel strategies to combat AMR are needed, and plasmid curing and anti-plasmid approaches could reduce ARG prevalence, and sensitise bacteria to antibiotics. We discuss the use of curing agents as laboratory tools including chemicals (e.g. detergents and intercalating agents), drugs used in medicine including ascorbic acid, psychotropic drugs (e.g. chlorpromazine), antibiotics (e.g. aminocoumarins, quinolones and rifampicin) and plant-derived compounds. Novel strategies are examined; these include conjugation inhibitors (e.g. TraE inhibitors, linoleic, oleic, 2-hexadecynoic and tanzawaic acids), systems designed around plasmid incompatibility, phages and CRISPR/Cas-based approaches. Currently, there is a general lack of in vivo curing options. This review highlights this important shortfall, which if filled could provide a promising mechanism to reduce ARG prevalence in humans and animals. Plasmid curing mechanisms which are not suitable for in vivo use could still prove important for reducing the global burden of AMR, as high levels of ARGs exist in the environment.

show abstract

“…One interesting approach to deal with the transmission of AMR has been the discovery of conjugation inhibitors (COINs), first developed in the frame of a European consortium, which led to the finding that unsaturated fatty acids (uFAs) are effective COINs [17]. Among the proteins integrating the T4SS, there is one ATPase, generally termed VirB11, which seems to be the target of these uFAs [18]. The protein is able to bind palmitic acid one of the major components of the bacterial membrane; but the uFAs can replace palmitic acid and reduce the ATPase activity of VirB11, hindering conjugation [19].…”

Section: Strategies To Tackle Transmission Of Amrmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Humans Met Superbugs: Strategies to Tackle Bacterial Resistances to Antibiotics

Bravo

Ruiz‐Cruz

Alkorta

et al. 2018

Biomolecular Concepts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses enormous health and economic burdens to our society, and it is of the essence to explore old and new ways to deal with these problems. Here we review the current status of multi-resistance genes and how they spread among bacteria. We discuss strategies to deal with resistant bacteria, namely the search for new targets and the use of inhibitors of protein-protein interactions, fragment-based methods, or modified antisense RNAs. Finally, we discuss integrated approaches that consider bacterial populations and their niches, as well as the role of global regulators that activate and/or repress the expression of multiple genes in fluctuating environments and, therefore, enable resistant bacteria to colonize new niches. Understanding how the global regulatory circuits work is, probably, the best way to tackle bacterial resistance.

show abstract

Natural and Artificial Strategies to Control the Conjugative Transmission of Plasmids

Cited by 20 publications

References 258 publications

PifC and Osa, Plasmid Weapons against Rival Conjugative Coupling Proteins

PifC and Osa, Plasmid Weapons against Rival Conjugative Coupling Proteins

Strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance: anti-plasmid and plasmid curing

When Humans Met Superbugs: Strategies to Tackle Bacterial Resistances to Antibiotics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About