Biofilms can act as plasmid reserves in the absence of plasmid specific selection
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- Biofilms can act as plasmid reserves in the absence of plasmid specific selection
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Plasmids facilitate rapid bacterial adaptation by shuttling a wide variety of beneficial traits across microbial communities. However, under non-selective conditions, maintaining a plasmid can be costly to the host cell. Nonetheless, plasmids are ubiquitous in nature where bacteria adopt their dominant mode of life - biofilms. Here, we demonstrate that biofilms can act as spatiotemporal reserves for plasmids, allowing them to persist even under non-selective conditions. However, under these conditions, spatial stratification of plasmid-carrying cells may promote the dispersal of cells without plasmids, and biofilms may thus act as plasmid sinks.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 78 |
Journal | npj Biofilms and Microbiomes |
Volume | 7 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISSN | 2055-5008 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2021 |
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