Hitherto-Unnoticed Self-Transmissible Plasmids Widely Distributed among Different Environments in Japan
Masaya Hayakawa, Maho Tokuda, Kensei Kaneko, Koichiro Nakamichi, Yukie Yamamoto, Tatsuya Kamijo, Honoka Umeki, Reimi Chiba, Ryo Yamada, Mitsuya Mori, Kosuke Yanagiya, Ryota Moriuchi, Masahiro Yuki, Hideo Dohra, Hiroyuki Futamata, Moriya Ohkuma, Kazuhide Kimbara, Masaki Shintani
Abstract
Plasmids are known to spread among different bacteria. However, which plasmids spread among environmental samples and in which environments they are present is still poorly understood. This study showed that unidentified conjugative plasmids were present in various environments. Different novel IncP/P-1 plasmids were found, whose host ranges were different from those of known plasmids, showing wide diversity of IncP/P-1 plasmids. PromA plasmids, exhibiting a broad host range, were diversified into several subgroups and widely distributed in varied environments. These findings are important for understanding how bacteria naturally exchange their genes, including antibiotic resistance genes, a growing threat to human health worldwide.