Mobile genetic elements drive a plasmid fusion and deletion lifecycle shaping evolution and antimicrobial resistance
Thomas Ipoutcha, Yiqing Wang, Eduardo P. C. Rocha, José R. Penadés · 2026
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Description
Thomas Ipoutcha and three co-authors show in 2026 how plasmids, small rings of DNA in bacteria, are reshaped over time. Their work centers on Staphylococcus aureus, a germ that can resist many drugs. Small moving DNA parts drive the reshaping, the team found.
Those parts can fuse two plasmids into one large ring, adding new genes and new ways to spread. Drug pressure favors the fused rings, while virus attack on the germ favors smaller rings that drop some parts. This fuse-and-trim cycle, the authors argue, helps explain why drug-resistant plasmids arise so fast and last so long in many germs.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Thomas Ipoutcha, Yiqing Wang, Eduardo P. C. Rocha, José R. Penadés |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 65 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |