Abstract
Associations between bacteria and their accessory elements (viruses, plasmids and transposons) range from antagonistic to mutualistic1,2. A number of previous studies have demonstrated that plasmid carriage reduces bacterial fitness in the absence of selection for specific functions such as antibiotic resistance3–13. Many studies have demonstrated increased fitness of evolving microbial populations in laboratory environments3,8,14–21, but we are aware of only one study in which fitness gains were partitioned between a plasmid and its host8. Here, we examine the evolution of an association between a plasmid and its bacterial host. Carriage of the non-conjugative plasmid pACYC184 initially reduced the fitness of Escherichia coli B in the absence of antibiotic. We then cultured plasmid-bearing bacteria for 500 generations in the presence of antibiotic. The fitness of each combination of host and plasmid, with and without the culture history, was determined by competing it against a baseline strain. The results indicate adaptation by the host genome, but no plasmid adaptation. We also competed the evolved host, transformed with the baseline plasmid, against its isogenic plasmid-free counterpart. The plasmid now increased the fitness of its host.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Levin, B. R. & Lenski, R. E. in Coevolution (eds Futuyma, D. J. & Slatkin, M.) 99–127 (Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Mass., 1983).
Davey, R. B. & Reanney, D. C. in Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 13 (eds Hecht, M. K., Steere, W. C. & Wallace, B.) 113–147 (Plenum, New York, 1980).
Dykhuizen, D. E. & Hartl, D. L. Microbiol. Rev. 47, 150–168 (1983).
Lenski, R. E. & Nguyen, T. T. in Planned Release of Genetically Engineered Organisms (eds Hodgson, J. & Sugden, A. M.) 18–20 (Elsevier, Cambridge, 1988).
Lenski, R. E. & Bouma, J. E. J. Bact. 169, 5314–5316 (1987).
Cooper, N. S., Brown, M. E. & Caulcott, C. A. J. gen. Microbiol. 133, 1871–1880 (1987).
Lee, S. W. & Edlin, G. Gene 39, 173–180 (1985).
Helling, R. B., Kinney, T. & Adams, J. J. gen. Microbiol. 123, 129–141 (1981).
Noack, D. et al. Molec. gen. Genet. 184, 121–124 (1981).
Levin, B. R. in Antibiotic Resistance: Transposition and Other Mechanisms (eds Mitsuhashi, S., Rosival, L. & Krcmery, V.) 197–202 (Springer, Berlin, 1980).
Zund, P. & Lebeck, G. Plasmid 3, 65–69 (1980).
Jones, I. M., Primrose, S. B., Robinson, A. & Ellwood, C. C. Molec. gen. Genet. 180, 579–584 (1980).
Godwin, D. & Slater, J. H. J. gen. Microbiol. 111, 201–210 (1979).
Lenski, R. E. Evolution 42, 433–440 (1988).
Paquin, C. E. & Adams, J. Nature 306, 368–370 (1983).
Chao, L., Vargas, C., Spear, B. B. & Cox, E. C. Nature 303, 633–635 (1983).
Paquin, C. E. & Adams, J. Nature 302, 495–500 (1983).
Dykhuizen, D. & Hartl, D. Evolution 35, 581–594 (1981).
Graham, J. B. & Istock, C. A. Science 204, 637–639 (1979).
Luckinbill, L. S. Science 202, 1201–1203 (1978).
Atwood, K. C., Schneider, L. K. & Ryan, F. J. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 16, 345–355 (1951).
Lenski, R. E. Evolution 42, 425–432 (1988).
Lenski, R. E. & Levin, B. R. Am. Nat. 125, 585–602 (1985).
Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F. & Sambrook, J. Molecular Cloning (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 1982).
Chang, A. C. Y. & Cohen, S. N. J. Bact. 134, 1141–1156 (1978).
Edlin, G., Tait, R. C. & Rodriguez, R. L. Biotechnol. 2, 251–254 (1984).
Hartl, D. L., Dykhuizen, D. E., Miller, R. D., Green, L. & DeFramond, J. Cell 35, 503–510 (1983).
Biel, S. W. & Hartl, D. L. Genetics 103, 581–592 (1983).
Edlin, G., Lin, L. & Bitner, R. J. Virol. 21, 560–564 (1977).
Lin, L., Bitner, R. & Edlin, G. J. Virol. 21, 554–559 (1977).
Edlin, G., Lin, L. & Kudrna, R. Nature 255, 735–737 (1975).
Levin, B. R. in Antibiotic Resistance Genes: Ecology, Transfer, and Expression (eds Levy, S. B. & Novick, R. P.) 57–70 (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 1986).
Levin, B. R. & Stewart, F. M. Genetics 94, 425–443 (1980).
Regal, P. J. Recomb. DNA Tech. Bull. 10, 67–85 (1987).
Colwell, R. K., Norse, E. A., Pimentel, D., Sharples, F. E. & Simberloff, D. Science 229, 111–112 (1985).
Brill, W. J. Science 227, 381–384 (1985).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bouma, J., Lenski, R. Evolution of a bacteria/plasmid association. Nature 335, 351–352 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/335351a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/335351a0
This article is cited by
-
A simple label-free method reveals bacterial growth dynamics and antibiotic action in real-time
Scientific Reports (2022)
-
Biofilms preserve the transmissibility of a multi-drug resistance plasmid
npj Biofilms and Microbiomes (2022)
-
Colonization of gut microbiota by plasmid-carrying bacteria is facilitated by evolutionary adaptation to antibiotic treatment
The ISME Journal (2022)
-
The impact of pollutant as selection pressure on conjugative transfer of dioxin-catabolic plasmids harbored by Rhodococcus sp. strain p52
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2022)
-
Plasmids Bring Additional Capabilities to Caulobacter Isolates
Current Microbiology (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.