Tracking Recombination Events That Occur in Conjugative Virulence Plasmid p15WZ-82_Vir during the Transmission Process

Xuemei Yang, Lianwei Ye, Edward Wai-Chi Chan, Rong Zhang, Sheng Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)
47 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

We recently reported the recovery of a conjugative virulence plasmid, p15WZ-82_Vir, from a clinical Klebsiella variicola strain. In this study, we found that several new plasmid types were generated due to genetic rearrangement. Partial integration of plasmid p15WZ-82_Vir with existing plasmids such as resistance plasmids by different homologous recombination events was observable in three recipient strains. Such recombination events enable the formation of various types of mosaic plasmids simultaneously carrying virulence-encoding and antibiotic resistance-encoding genes as well as genes involved in plasmid conjugation, which promote transmission of various virulence-encoding and resistance-encoding elements among pathogens. Our data also suggest that these conjugative events may play an integral role in the development of novel mosaic plasmids, which is vital for plasmid evolution.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere00140-20
JournalmSystems
Volume5
Issue number4
Online published14 Jul 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2020

Research Keywords

  • Conjugative
  • Homologous recombination
  • Hypervirulence plasmid
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae
  • Plasmid evolution

Publisher's Copyright Statement

  • This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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