ArticlePloS one2011
Cell-to-cell transformation in Escherichia coli: a novel type of natural transformation involving cell-derived DNA and a putative promoting pheromone.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional Analysis of CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Gene Deletion inMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Phage predation accelerates the spread of plasmid-encoded antibiotic resistance.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Cell-to-cell non-conjugative plasmid transfer between Bacillus subtilis and lactic acid bacteria.Microbial biotechnology · 2023Article
- Horizontal Gene Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Biofilms.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Deconstructing the Phage-Bacterial Biofilm Interaction as a Basis to Establish New Antibiofilm Strategies.Viruses · 2022Review
- Subminimal inhibitory concentrations of ampicillin and mechanical stimuli cooperatively promote cell-to-cell plasmid transformation inCurrent research in microbial sciences · 2022Article
- What Is the Role of the Environment in the Emergence of Novel Antibiotic Resistance Genes? A Modeling Approach.Environmental science & technology · 2021Article
- Development of amoxicillin resistance in Escherichia coli after exposure to remnants of a non-related phagemid-containing E. coli: an exploratory study.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2020Article
- An EnvironmentalFrontiers in microbiology · 2020Article
- Stress-Induced, Highly Efficient, Donor Cell-Dependent Cell-to-Cell Natural Transformation in Bacillus subtilis.Journal of bacteriology · 2018Article
- Pull in and Push Out: Mechanisms of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacteria.Frontiers in microbiology · 2018Article
- Horizontal Plasmid Transfer by Transformation inFrontiers in microbiology · 2018Review
- Bacteriophage P1AIMS microbiology · 2017Article
- Evidence for Contemporary Switching of the O-Antigen Gene Cluster between Shiga Toxin-ProducingFrontiers in microbiology · 2017Article
- The Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli Factor RqlI Constrains the Genotoxic Effects of the RecQ-Like Helicase RqlH.PLoS pathogens · 2015Article
- Positive Effect of Carbon Sources on Natural Transformation in Escherichia coli: Role of Low-Level Cyclic AMP (cAMP)-cAMP Receptor Protein in the Derepression of rpoS.Journal of bacteriology · 2015Article
- Calcium chloride made E. coli competent for uptake of extraneous DNA through overproduction of OmpC protein.The protein journal · 2012Article
- Natural DNA uptake by Escherichia coli.PloS one · 2012Article
- Article
- Horizontal gene exchange in environmental microbiota.Frontiers in microbiology · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Escherichia coli is not assumed to be naturally transformable. However, several recent reports have shown that E. coli can express modest genetic competence in certain conditions that may arise in its environment. We have shown previously that spontaneous lateral transfer of non-conjugative plasmids occurs in a colony biofilm of mixed E. coli strains (a set of a donor strain harbouring a plasmid and a plasmid-free recipient strain). In this study, with high-frequency combinations of strains and a plasmid, we constructed the same lateral plasmid transfer system in liquid culture. Using this system, we demonstrated that this lateral plasmid transfer was DNase-sensitive, indicating that it is a kind of transformation in which DNase-accessible extracellular naked DNA is essential. However, this transformation did not occur with purified plasmid DNA and required a direct supply of plasmid from co-existing donor cells. Based on this feature, we have termed this transformation type as 'cell-to-cell transformation'. Analyses using medium conditioned with the high-frequency strain revealed that this strain released a certain factor(s) that promoted cell-to-cell transformation and arrested growth of the other strains. This factor is heat-labile and protease-sensitive, and its roughly estimated molecular mass was between ∼9 kDa and ∼30 kDa, indicating that it is a polypeptide factor. Interestingly, this factor was effective even when the conditioned medium was diluted 10(-5)-10(-6), suggesting that it acts like a pheromone with high bioactivity. Based on these results, we propose that cell-to-cell transformation is a novel natural transformation mechanism in E. coli that requires cell-derived DNA and is promoted by a peptide pheromone. This is the first evidence that suggests the existence of a peptide pheromone-regulated transformation mechanism in E. coli and in Gram-negative bacteria.
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