Authors
Henriette Lyng Røder, Urvish Trivedi, Jakob Russel, Kasper Nørskov Kragh, Jakob Herschend, Ida Thalsø-Madsen, Tim Tolker-Nielsen, Thomas Bjarnsholt, Mette Burmølle, Jonas Stenløkke Madsen
Publication date
2021/10/7
Journal
npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
Volume
7
Issue
1
Pages
78
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK
Description
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.
Total citations
202220232024864
Scholar articles
HL Røder, U Trivedi, J Russel, KN Kragh, J Herschend… - npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 2021