Nature Communications (Jul 2020)

Pathways for horizontal gene transfer in bacteria revealed by a global map of their plasmids

  • Santiago Redondo-Salvo,
  • Raúl Fernández-López,
  • Raúl Ruiz,
  • Luis Vielva,
  • María de Toro,
  • Eduardo P. C. Rocha,
  • M. Pilar Garcillán-Barcia,
  • Fernando de la Cruz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17278-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Plasmids can mediate gene transfer across bacterial populations. Here, the authors describe a global map of the prokaryotic plasmidome, where plasmids organize into discrete ‘plasmid taxonomic units’ based on their genomic composition and pairwise sequence identity.