[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-228645-105":59,"doc-detail-228645-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","essential-gene-acquisition-destabilizes-plasmid-inheritance","Essential gene acquisition destabilizes plasmid inheritance","","Extra-chromosomal genetic elements drive evolutionary change in prokaryotes, often through plasmids that spread under selective pressures such as antibiotics. Essential plasmids have been reported but their evolution remains unclear. This study tests plasmids in Escherichia coli and shows that acquisition of an essential chromosomal gene by a plasmid can trigger plasmid extinction. Comparative genomics finds few plasmid-encoded essential genes, which tend to be embedded in plasmid-linked functions, and experiments indicate reduced plasmid fitness regardless of inheritance stability, consistent with a gene redundancy dose effect.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/essential-gene-acquisition-destabilizes-plasmid-inheritance/228645/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/essential-gene-acquisition-destabilizes-plasmid-inheritance/228645.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Emma Mercer","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-09-10",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main finding about essential gene acquisition and plasmid inheritance?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Acquisition of an essential chromosomal gene by a plasmid can lead to plasmid extinction in evolving Escherichia coli populations.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do comparative genomics results relate to the rarity of essential plasmid genes?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Comparative genomics of Escherichia isolates reveals few plasmid-encoded essential genes, which are often tied to plasmid-related functions.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What mechanism is proposed for why essential gene acquisition is detrimental?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The results suggest a dose effect from gene redundancy, where adding an essential gene reduces plasmid fitness even when plasmid inheritance remains stable.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},228645,1789027778,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962084925502,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","OPEN ACCESS  \nCitation: Wein T, Wang Y, Barz M, Stu¨cker FT, Hammerschmidt K, Dagan T (2021) Essential gene acquisition destabilizes plasmid inheritance. PLoS Genet 17(7): e1009656 . [https://doi.org/10.1371/](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[journal.pgen.1009656](journal.pgen.1009656)  \nEditor: R. Craig MacLean, University of Oxford, UNITED KINGDOM  \nReceived: December 7, 2020  \nAccepted: June 9, 2021  \nPublished: July 12, 2021  \nCopyright: © 2021 Wein et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.  \nData Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files. All sequencing files are available from the SRA database (accession number PRJNA714291) .  \nFunding: TD received funding from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Grant No. DA1202/2-1 and GRK2501 ([https://www.dfg.de/](https://www.dfg.de/)) . Yiqing Wang was funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC), Beijing, China. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.  \nRESEARCH ARTICLE  \nEssential gene acquisition destabilizes plasmid inheritance  \nTanita Wein¤ *☯, Yiqing Wang☯, Myriam Barz, Fenna T. St¨ucker, Katrin Hammerschmidt, Tal Dagan  \nInstitute of General Microbiology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany  \n☯ These authors contributed equally to this work.  \n¤ Current address: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel  \n* [tanita.wein@weizmann.ac.il](tanita.wein@weizmann.ac.il)  \nAbstract  \nExtra-chromosomal genetic elements are important drivers of evolutionary transformationsand ecological adaptations in prokaryotes with their evolutionary success often depending on their ‘utility’ to the host. Examples are plasmids encoding antibiotic resistance genes, which are known to proliferate in the presence of antibiotics. Plasmids carrying an essential host function are recognized as permanent residents in their host. Essential plasmids have been reported in several taxa where they often encode essential metabolic functions; nonetheless, their evolution remains poorly understood. Here we show that essential genes are rarely encoded on plasmids; evolving essential plasmids in Escherichia coli we further find that acquisition of an essential chromosomal gene by a plasmid can lead to plasmid extinction. A comparative genomics analysis of Escherichia isolates reveals few plasmid-encoded essential genes, yet these are often integrated into plasmid-related functions; an example is the GroEL/GroES chaperonin. Experimental evolution of a chaperonin-encoding plasmid shows that the acquisition of an essential gene reduces plasmid fitness regardless of the stability of plasmid inheritance. Our results suggest that essential plasmid emergence leads to a dose effect caused by gene redundancy. The detrimental effect of essential gene acquisition on plasmid inheritance constitutes a barrier for plasmid-mediated lateral gene transfer and supplies a mechanistic understanding for the rarity of essential genes in extra-chromosomal genetic elements.  \nAuthor summary  \nMobile genetic elements have been extensively studied due to their role as agents of genetic innovation and rapid adaptation in prokaryotes. Specifically, prokaryotic plasmids have been the focus of investigation in the context of bacterial survival under growth limiting conditions with the prime example of resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals. In contrast, plasmids that encode for functions that are essential to their host viability are rarely described. We investigate the evolution of plasmids that encode for genes previously identified as essential for bacterial life. Our analysis of Escherichia isolates reveals only few plasmid-encoded essential","cbCaijnSs6MwrTS3","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijnSs6MwrTS3","pdf",1603536,22,"English","# Abstract\n## Author summary\n# Introduction\n## Data availability and funding context","[{\"question\":\"What is the main finding about essential gene acquisition and plasmid inheritance?\",\"answer\":\"Acquisition of an essential chromosomal gene by a plasmid can lead to plasmid extinction in evolving Escherichia coli populations.\"},{\"question\":\"How do comparative genomics results relate to the rarity of essential plasmid genes?\",\"answer\":\"Comparative genomics of Escherichia isolates reveals few plasmid-encoded essential genes, which are often tied to plasmid-related functions.\"},{\"question\":\"What mechanism is proposed for why essential gene acquisition is detrimental?\",\"answer\":\"The results suggest a dose effect from gene redundancy, where adding an essential gene reduces plasmid fitness even when plasmid inheritance remains stable.\"}]","Essential gene acquisition destabilizes plasmid inheritance | PDF",55]