Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to human and animal health. Progress in
molecular biology has revealed new and significant challenges for AMR mitigation given the …

Plasmids mediate the horizontal transmission of genetic information between bacteria,
facilitating their adaptation to multiple environmental conditions. An especially important …

Plasmids alter microbial evolution and lifestyles by mobilizing genes that often confer fitness
in changing environments across clades. Yet our ecological and evolutionary understanding …

Plasmids play an important role in bacterial genome evolution by transferring genes
between lineages. Fitness costs associated with plasmid carriage are expected to be a …

Efficient genome engineering is critical to understand and use microbial functions. Despite
recent development of tools such as CRISPR-Cas gene editing, efficient integration of …

The'plasmid paradox'arises because, although plasmids are common features of bacterial
genomes, theoretically they should not exist: rates of conjugation were believed insufficient …

Plasmid acquisition is an important mechanism of rapid adaptation and niche expansion in
prokaryotes. Positive selection for plasmid-coded functions is a major driver of plasmid …

In experimental evolution, laboratory-controlled conditions select for the adaptation of
species, which can be monitored in real time. Despite the current popularity of such …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is one of the most important evolutionary forces within
microbial populations. Although evidence for beneficial fitness effects of HGT is …

Large conjugative plasmids are important drivers of bacterial evolution and contribute
significantly to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Although plasmid borne multidrug …