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VIRAL EVOLUTION

Plasmid vesicles mimicking virions

A newly described plasmid, which encodes proteins facilitating its packaging and cell-to-cell transfer via membrane vesicles, challenges the way we think about the delineation of viruses, plasmids and extracellular vesicles.

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Fig. 1: A continuum of vesicle-like entities spanning the world of viruses and plasmids.

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Correspondence to Patrick Forterre.

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Forterre, P., Da Cunha, V. & Catchpole, R. Plasmid vesicles mimicking virions. Nat Microbiol 2, 1340–1341 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-017-0032-3

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