ArticlePLoS pathogens2012
Natural transformation facilitates transfer of transposons, integrons and gene cassettes between bacterial species.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 90 papers.
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Who cites it
90 citing papers in PubMed, 191 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Natural Microbiota of Dogs and Cats as a Source and Vector of Resistance Genes-Clinical Significance.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Impact of Natural Transformation on the Acquisition of Novel Genes in Bacteria.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Genomic Insights into Emerging Multidrug-ResistantAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Large DNA fragment ISEc9-mediated transposition during natural transformation allows interspecies dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2025Article
- Exploring molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in bacteria and progressions in CRISPR/Cas9-based genome expurgation solutions.Global medical genetics · 2025Review
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- Naturally competent bacteria and their genetic parasites-a battle for control over horizontal gene transfer?FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
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- From Petri Dishes to Patients to Populations: Scales and Evolutionary Mechanisms Driving Antibiotic Resistance.Annual review of microbiology · 2024Review
- Insights intoInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Manipulation of natural transformation by AbaR-type islands promotes fixation of antibiotic resistance inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- The global distribution of the macrolide esterase EstX from the alpha/beta hydrolase superfamily.Communications biology · 2024Article
- An overview of the occurrence, impact of process parameters, and the fate of antibiotic resistance genes during anaerobic digestion processes.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2024Review
- What role do biocontrol agents with MgmSystems · 2024Article
30 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We have investigated to what extent natural transformation acting on free DNA substrates can facilitate transfer of mobile elements including transposons, integrons and/or gene cassettes between bacterial species. Naturally transformable cells of Acinetobacter baylyi were exposed to DNA from integron-carrying strains of the genera Acinetobacter, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, and Salmonella to determine the nature and frequency of transfer. Exposure to the various DNA sources resulted in acquisition of antibiotic resistance traits as well as entire integrons and transposons, over a 24 h exposure period. DNA incorporation was not solely dependent on integrase functions or the genetic relatedness between species. DNA sequence analyses revealed that several mechanisms facilitated stable integration in the recipient genome depending on the nature of the donor DNA; homologous or heterologous recombination and various types of transposition (Tn21-like and IS26-like). Both donor strains and transformed isolates were extensively characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, integron- and cassette-specific PCRs, DNA sequencing, pulsed field gel electrophoreses (PFGE), Southern blot hybridizations, and by re-transformation assays. Two transformant strains were also genome-sequenced. Our data demonstrate that natural transformation facilitates interspecies transfer of genetic elements, suggesting that the transient presence of DNA in the cytoplasm may be sufficient for genomic integration to occur. Our study provides a plausible explanation for why sequence-conserved transposons, IS elements and integrons can be found disseminated among bacterial species. Moreover, natural transformation of integron harboring populations of competent bacteria revealed that interspecies exchange of gene cassettes can be highly efficient, and independent on genetic relatedness between donor and recipient. In conclusion, natural transformation provides a much broader capacity for horizontal acquisitions of genetic elements and hence, resistance traits from divergent species than previously assumed.
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