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ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

The journey of bacterial genes

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 6, pages 498–499 (2022)Cite this article

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Analysis of the dynamics of transposons that encode resistance to different antibiotics shows that the movement of genes under positive selection from the chromosome to mobile genetic elements such as plasmids can be beneficial in bacteria. Once integrated into plasmids, these genes can spread by horizontal gene transfer.

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Fig. 1: Effect of positive selection on chromosome-to-plasmid transposition events.

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  1. Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología–CSIC, Madrid, Spain

    Alvaro San Millan

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  1. Alvaro San Millan
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Correspondence to Alvaro San Millan.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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San Millan, A. The journey of bacterial genes. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 498–499 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01713-2

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