Plasmid carriage can limit bacteria - phage coevolution



Harrison, Ellie, Truman, Julie, Wright, Rosanna, Spiers, Andrew J, Paterson, Steve ORCID: 0000-0002-1307-2981 and Brockhurst, Michael A
(2015) Plasmid carriage can limit bacteria - phage coevolution. BIOLOGY LETTERS, 11 (8). 20150361-.

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Abstract

Coevolution with bacteriophages is a major selective force shaping bacterial populations and communities. A variety of both environmental and genetic factors has been shown to influence the mode and tempo of bacteria-phage coevolution. Here, we test the effects that carriage of a large conjugative plasmid, pQBR103, had on antagonistic coevolution between the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens and its phage, SBW25ϕ2. Plasmid carriage limited bacteria-phage coevolution; bacteria evolved lower phage-resistance and phages evolved lower infectivity in plasmid-carrying compared with plasmid-free populations. These differences were not explained by effects of plasmid carriage on the costs of phage resistance mutations. Surprisingly, in the presence of phages, plasmid carriage resulted in the evolution of high frequencies of mucoid bacterial colonies. Mucoidy can provide weak partial resistance against SBW25ϕ2, which may have limited selection for qualitative resistance mutations in our experiments. Taken together, our results suggest that plasmids can have evolutionary consequences for bacteria that go beyond the direct phenotypic effects of their accessory gene cargo.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Open access
Uncontrolled Keywords: bacteria-phage coevolution, conjugative plasmid, mucoid conversion
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 17 Aug 2015 08:34
Last Modified: 16 Dec 2022 12:05
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0361
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/2020519