Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Bacterial evolution: Resistance is a numbers game

Nature Microbiology volume 1, Article number: 16235 (2016) Cite this article

Subjects

Plasmids are well known for spreading antibiotic-resistance genes between bacterial strains. Recent experiments show that they can also act as catalysts for evolutionary innovation, promoting rapid evolution of novel antibiotic resistance.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Comparing the adaptive potential of a resistance gene carried on the chromosome, on a multicopy plasmid and, hypothetically, in multiple copies on the chromosome.

References

  1. San Millan, A., Escudero, J. A., Gifford, D. R., Mazel, D. & MacLean, R. C. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 0010 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Hendrickson, H., Slechta, E. S., Bergthorsson, U., Andersson, D. I. & Roth, J. R. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99, 2164–2169 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Harrison, E. & Brockhurst, M. A. Trends Microbiol. 20, 262–267 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hall, J. P. J., Wood, A. J., Harrison, E. & Brockhurst, M. A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 8260–8265 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Loftie-Eaton, W. et al. Mol. Biol. Evol. 33, 885–897 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. San Millan, A., Toll-Riera, M., Qi, Q. & MacLean, R. C. Nat. Commun. 6, 6845 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Colegrave, N. & Collins, S. Heredity 100, 464–470 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. de Toro, M., Garcilláon-Barcia, M. P. & De La Cruz, F. Microbiol. Spectr. http://doi.org/br6q (2014).

  9. Salverda, M. L. M., De Visser, J. A. G. M. & Barlow, M. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 34, 1015–1036 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. James P. J. Hall and Ellie Harrison are at the Department of Biology, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.,

    James P. J. Hall & Ellie Harrison

Authors
  1. James P. J. Hall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ellie Harrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ellie Harrison.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hall, J., Harrison, E. Bacterial evolution: Resistance is a numbers game. Nat Microbiol 1, 16235 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.235

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.235

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing