Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36958858›Full record

ArticleFEMS microbiology ecology2023

Compensatory mutations reducing the fitness cost of plasmid carriage occur in plant rhizosphere communities.

Susannah M Bird, Samuel Ford, Catriona M A Thompson, Richard Little, James P J Hall, Robert W Jackson, Jacob Malone, Ellie Harrison, Michael A Brockhurst

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in FEMS microbiology ecology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. The metabolic burden associated with plasmid acquisition: An assessment of the unrecognized benefits to host cells.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Susannah M BirdSchool of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom.
Samuel FordSchool of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom.
Catriona M A ThompsonJohn Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Ln, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.
Richard LittleJohn Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Ln, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.
James P J HallInstitute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-4896-4592
Robert W JacksonBirmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
Jacob MaloneJohn Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Ln, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-6361-1998
Ellie HarrisonSchool of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom.
Michael A BrockhurstDivision of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, University of Manchester, Michael Smith Building, Dover Street, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-0362-820X
John Innes Centre · GBUniversity of Sheffield · GBForest Research · GBUniversity of Liverpool · GBUniversity of Manchester · GB

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/R014884/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/R014884/2Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/R018154/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBS/E/J/000PR9797
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Plasmids drive bacterial evolutionary innovation by transferring ecologically important functions between lineages, but acquiring a plasmid often comes at a fitness cost to the host cell. Compensatory mutations, which ameliorate the cost of plasmid carriage, promote plasmid maintenance in simplified laboratory media across diverse plasmid-host associations. Whether such compensatory evolution can occur in more complex communities inhabiting natural environmental niches where evolutionary paths may be more constrained is, however, unclear. Here, we show a substantial fitness cost of carrying the large conjugative plasmid pQBR103 in Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 in the plant rhizosphere. This plasmid fitness cost could be ameliorated by compensatory mutations affecting the chromosomal global regulatory system gacA/gacS, which arose rapidly in plant rhizosphere communities and were exclusive to plasmid carriers. These findings expand our understanding of the importance of compensatory evolution in plasmid dynamics beyond simplified lab media. Compensatory mutations contribute to plasmid survival in bacterial populations living within complex microbial communities in their environmental niche.

Indexed as

Pseudomonas fluorescensRhizosphereMutationPlasmidscompensatory evolutionexperimental evolutionfitness costhorizontal gene transferplant rhizosphereplasmid

Identifiers

PMID36958858
PMCPMC10062694
OpenAlexW4360813182

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.