Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Center for Quantitative Biodesign, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Cell Syst. 2023 Oct 18;14(10):895-905.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.09.002. Epub 2023 Oct 10.
Transferable plasmids play a critical role in shaping the functions of microbial communities. Previous studies suggested multiple mechanisms underlying plasmid persistence and abundance. Here, we focus on the interplay between heterogeneous community partitioning and plasmid fates. Natural microbiomes often experience partitioning that creates heterogeneous local communities with reduced population sizes and biodiversity. Little is known about how population partitioning affects the plasmid fate through the modulation of community structure. By modeling and experiments, we show that heterogeneous community partitioning can paradoxically promote the persistence of a plasmid that would otherwise not persist in a global community. Among the local communities created by partitioning, a minority will primarily consist of members able to transfer the plasmid fast enough to support its maintenance by serving as a local plasmid haven. Our results provide insights into plasmid maintenance and suggest a generalizable approach to modulate plasmid persistence for engineering and medical applications.
可转移质粒在塑造微生物群落功能方面发挥着关键作用。先前的研究提出了多种维持质粒持久性和丰度的机制。在这里，我们关注的是异质群落分区与质粒命运之间的相互作用。自然微生物组经常经历分区，从而形成具有降低种群大小和生物多样性的异质局部群落。关于种群分区如何通过调节群落结构来影响质粒命运，人们知之甚少。通过建模和实验，我们表明，异质社区分区可以反常地促进一个质粒的持久性，否则这个质粒在全球社区中就不会持久。在分区产生的局部群落中，少数群落主要由能够快速转移质粒的成员组成，这些成员足以通过充当局部质粒避难所来支持质粒的维持。我们的结果为质粒的维持提供了新的见解，并为工程和医学应用中调节质粒持久性提供了一种可推广的方法。
