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BACTERIAL DEVELOPMENT

Change of programme

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 19, page 344 (2021)Cite this article

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Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are found in a diverse range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. ICEs are integrated into host chromosomes, but following their activation, they can excise, circularize and be transferred to recipient cells via conjugation. In addition to the required conjugation machinery, ICEs often encode accessory genes that confer a distinct phenotype to host cells, including virulence factors and antibiotic or metal resistance, and the transfer of such mobile elements and the encoded traits between bacteria promotes the rapid evolution and spread of such phenotypes. Although many ICE-encoded genes have been identified bioinformatically, the phenotypes that they might confer to their hosts often remain unknown. In this study, Jones et al. report that ICEBs1, which is an ICE of Bacillus subtilis, provides a selective advantage to its host cells during two developmental processes: biofilm formation and sporulation.

To determine the possible impact on the fitness of its host, the authors performed competition experiments in biofilms using strains of B. subtilis with or without ICEBs1. They found that ICEBs1 efficiently spreads at low donor to recipient ratios during growth in biofilms, confirming previous observations showing that ICEBs1 induction is inhibited by the presence of other potential donors. In addition, the authors report the enhanced fitness of ICEBs1-containing cells compared with cells that do not contain the ICEBs1, which was also dependent on the initial frequency of the element in the population. But what underlies this ICEBs1-mediated growth advantage?

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References

Original article

  • Jones, J. M. et al. A mobile genetic element increases bacterial host fitness by manipulating development. eLife 10, e65924 (2021)

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  1. Nature Reviews Microbiology http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/

    Andrea Du Toit

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  1. Andrea Du Toit
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Correspondence to Andrea Du Toit.

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Du Toit, A. Change of programme. Nat Rev Microbiol 19, 344 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-021-00563-2

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