1. Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived from Klebsiella pneumoniae Are a Driving Force for Horizontal Gene Transfer
- Author
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Massimiliano Galdiero, Marilena Galdiero, Gianluigi Franci, Federica Dell'Annunziata, Giuliana Donadio, Fabrizio Dal Piaz, Carmela Dell'Aversana, Viviana Izzo, Giovanni Boccia, Anna De Filippis, Veronica Folliero, Nunzianna Doti, Lucia Altucci, Dell'Annunziata, F., Dell'Aversana, C., Doti, N., Donadio, G., Dal Piaz, F., Izzo, V., De Filippis, A., Galdiero, M., Altucci, L., Boccia, G., Folliero, V., Franci, G., Dell'Annunziata, Federica, Dell’Aversana, Carmela, Doti, Nunzianna, Donadio, Giuliana, Dal Piaz, Fabrizio, Izzo, Viviana, DE FILIPPIS, Anna, Galdiero, Marilena, Altucci, Lucia, Boccia, Giovanni, Galdiero, Massimiliano, Folliero, Veronica, and Franci, Gianluigi
- Subjects
Klebsiella pneumoniae ,Gene Dosage ,medicine.disease_cause ,Plasmid ,Cytoplasmic Vesicle ,Biology (General) ,Spectroscopy ,Phylogeny ,DNA ,Gram-negative bacteria ,Horizontal gene transfer ,Outer membrane vesicles ,General Medicine ,Computer Science Applications ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Chemistry ,horizontal gene transfer ,Bacterial outer membrane ,Plasmids ,Gene Transfer, Horizontal ,QH301-705.5 ,Bacterial Protein ,Biology ,Catalysis ,Article ,Microbiology ,Inorganic Chemistry ,Antibiotic resistance ,Bacterial Proteins ,Anti-Bacterial Agent ,Drug Resistance, Bacterial ,medicine ,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ,Molecular Biology ,Gene ,Escherichia coli ,QD1-999 ,Pseudomonas aeruginosa ,Outer membrane vesicle ,Organic Chemistry ,Cytoplasmic Vesicles ,Outer Membrane Vesicles ,biology.organism_classification ,Low copy number ,Bacteria ,Transformation efficiency - Abstract
Gram-negative bacteria release Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) into the extracellular environment. Recent studies recognized these vesicles as vectors to horizontal gene transfer, however, the parameters that mediate OMVs transfer within bacterial communities remain unclear. The present study highlights for the first time the transfer of plasmids containing resistance genes via OMVs derived from Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae). This mechanism confers DNA protection, it is plasmid copy number dependent with a ratio of 3.6 times among high copy number plasmid (pGR) versus low copy number plasmid (PRM), and the transformation efficiency was 3.6 times greater. Therefore, the DNA amount in the vesicular lumen and the efficacy of horizontal gene transfer was strictly dependent on the identity of the plasmid. Moreover, the role of K. pneumoniae-OMVs in interspecies transfer was described. The transfer ability was not related to the phylogenetic characteristics between the donor and the recipient species. K. pneumoniae-OMVs transferred plasmid to Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia. These findings address the pivotal role of K. pneumoniae-OMVs as vectors for antimicrobial resistance genes spread, contributing to the development of antibiotic resistance in the microbial communities.
- Published
- 2021