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Symbiosis Between Non-Transferable Plasmids and Prokaryotic Cells

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Book cover Reticulate Evolution

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Evolution Research ((IDER,volume 3))

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Abstract

Plasmids are common in the prokaryotic world, both in bacteria and archaea. Most of these extrachromosomal DNA molecules do not code for essential genes. One may expect that the replication of plasmids and the expression of plasmidic genes impose a fitness cost to their host. Given this cost, and given that plasmid-free cells often arise, it is striking that so many non-transferable plasmids are able to maintain themselves inside prokaryotic cells without being counter-selected in favor of plasmid-free cells. A solution to this paradox would be the evolution of controlling mechanisms to regulate rivalry between plasmids for the stability of these symbiotic relationships. In this chapter, we discuss the evolutionary selective conditions for such mechanisms to evolve.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental Biology (CBA), University of Lisbon, Edifício C2.5.46 Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Francisco Dionisio, João Alves Gama & André F. P. Carvalho

  2. Gulbenkian Institute for Science (IGC), Rua da Quinta Grande, 6, 2780-156, Oeiras, Portugal

    Francisco Dionisio, João Alves Gama & André F. P. Carvalho

  3. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change (CE3C), University of Lisbon, Edifício C2.5.46 Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Francisco Dionisio, João Alves Gama & André F. P. Carvalho

  4. Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Lisbon, Edifício C2.2.24 Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Francisco Dionisio

  5. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change (CE3C), Faculty of Science, University of Lisbon, Edifício C2.5.46 Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Alves Gama

Authors
  1. Francisco Dionisio
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  2. João Alves Gama
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  3. André F. P. Carvalho
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francisco Dionisio .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. AppEEL—Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Lab, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Nathalie Gontier

Glossary

Antisense RNA

Regulatory RNA molecule complementary to the target RNA (Nordström et al. 1996)

Chemostat

Bioreactor with continuous influx of fresh culture medium and efflux of culture, at a constant rate

Symbiosis (commensalism and mutualism)

A prolonged relationship between organisms (mutualism if both parts have a benefit or commensalism if the benefit is unilateral)

Conjugation (bacterial conjugation)

Transfer mechanism of plasmids (and conjugative transposons) requiring contact between donor and recipient cells (Pinto et al. 2012)

Copy-number

See Plasmid copy-number

Epistasis

Interaction between genes (Phillips 2008)

Excludability

A good is excludable if it is possible to prevent non-contributing individuals from having access to it. Cable TV is excludable, but public TV broadcasts is non-excludable. A metabolite used only by the producer cell (probably inside the cell) is excludable; a metabolite that has its function outside cells are non-excludable (Dionisio and Gordo 2006)

Partition system

System regulating the distribution of plasmids between two daughter cells (Pinto et al. 2012)

Plasmid copy-number

Average number of copies of a plasmid per cell (Pinto et al. 2012)

Policing mechanism

A mechanism that regulates a certain behavior to prevent individual deviations or selfish behavior (Frank 1995)

Prokaryote

Organism without a defined cellular nucleus. Both bacteria and archaea are prokaryotes

Proteobacteria

A group (phylum) of gram-negative bacteria

Public good

A resource available to all interacting individuals (Dionisio and Gordo 2006)

Rivalry

Competition for an exhaustible resource: consumption or use by one individual does not reduce the amount available for others (Dionisio and Gordo 2006)

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Dionisio, F., Gama, J.A., Carvalho, A.F.P. (2015). Symbiosis Between Non-Transferable Plasmids and Prokaryotic Cells. In: Gontier, N. (eds) Reticulate Evolution. Interdisciplinary Evolution Research, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16345-1_7

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