ReviewBioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology2025
The metabolic burden associated with plasmid acquisition: An assessment of the unrecognized benefits to host cells.
Review in BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Invasive plasmids as ecosystem engineers-from mechanism to application.Essays in biochemistry · 2026Review
- Single-Step Chromosomal Engineering Integrates Biocontainment and Therapeutic Function for Regulatory-Oriented Live Biotherapeutic Chassis Design.Pharmaceutics · 2026Article
- A dual-tier plasmid network model underpins the evolutionary success of pandemic Klebsiella pneumoniae ST11.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Mobile Genetic Elements as Key Drivers of Bacterial Evolution and Adaptation in Agroecosystems.Microbial ecology · 2026Review
- Clinical Rel mutations that increase basal (p)ppGpp promote conjugal transfer of staphylococcal resistance plasmids.Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- Pathogen species and capsule expression shape opportunistic transfer and the recipient response during plasmid RP4 conjugation.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Urban greenspaces harbour distinct plasmid communities enriched in heavy metal resistance and competitive traits in arid soils.Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- Horizontal and vertical gene transfer shape the plasmid host range in surface-associated microbial systems.iScience · 2026Article
- Mechanistic insights into plasmid transfer inhibition in Enterobacterales by nucleoside analogues.npj antimicrobials and resistance · 2026Article
- Assessing the Ecological Roles of Resistomes within Microbial Communities in Antibiotic-contaminated Ecosystems.Microbial ecology · 2026Review
- Fitness costs and persistence of plasmid-mediated cephalosporin resistance inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Metabolic remodeling of microorganisms by mobile genetic elements alters mutualistic community composition.mSystems · 2025Article
- Oral and parenteral treatment with a third-generation cephalosporin promotes the proliferation of diverse ESBL-producingmSphere · 2025Article
- The extended mobility of plasmids.Nucleic acids research · 2025Review
- How many plasmids can bacteria carry? A synthetic biology perspective.Open biology · 2025Review
- The role of bacterial metabolism in antimicrobial resistance.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Bacterial conjugation, wherein DNA is transferred between cells through direct contact, is highly prevalent in complex microbial communities and is responsible for spreading myriad genes related to human and environmental health. Despite their importance, much remains unknown regarding the mechanisms driving the spread and persistence of these plasmids in situ. Studies have demonstrated that transferring, acquiring, and maintaining a plasmid imposes a significant metabolic burden on the host. Simultaneously, emerging evidence suggests that the presence of a conjugative plasmid can also provide both obvious and unexpected benefits to their host and local community. Combined, this highlights a continuous cost-benefit tradeoff at the population level, likely contributing to overall plasmid abundance and long-term persistence. Yet, while the metabolic burdens of plasmid conjugation, and their causes, are widely studied, their attendant potential advantages are less clear. Here, we summarize current perspectives on conjugative plasmids' metabolic burden and then highlight the lesser-appreciated yet critical benefits that plasmid-mediated metabolic burdens may provide. We argue that this largely unexplored tradeoff is critical to both a fundamental theory of microbial populations and engineering applications and therefore warrants further detailed study.
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Registered trials
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.