Rankin
Fakultäten » Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät » Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Institut für » Evolutionary Biology » Dr. Daniel Rankin » Rankin
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Horizontal gene transfer and the evolutionary dynamics of infectious plasmids | ||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Not only can genes pass between parents and offspring (vertical transmission) but in a number of organisms, they can also be transferred horizontally. In bacteria, such horizontal gene transfer can come about through three processes: transfer through bacterial viruses (known as transduction), the uptake of DNA from the environment (known as transformation) and transfer through cell-to-cell contact, such as transfer of genes on plasmids (known as conjugation). This project will focus on asking which genes are carried horizontally by plasmids. In many pathogenic bacteria, it appears that genes involved in virulence and anti-biotic resistance are carried on plasmids, and hence can be transferred horizontally. Many of the genes that are carried horizontally are involved in microbial cooperation, where the host pays a cost in order to produce public goods which benefit other members of the population. As secreted proteins can be exploited neighbouring cells, they can be seen as public goods. Plasmids may hold the key to promoting such cooperative traits as their transmission increases local genetic relatedness, thus conferring an inclusive fitness benefit to producing secreted proteins. This project will work closely with empiricists to try to understand why plasmids carry the genes they do, with a particular focus on genes involved in cooperation between bacteria. | ||||
| Publications / Publikationen | Mc Ginty, S., Rankin, D.J. & Brown, S.P. (2011) Horizontal gene transfer and the evolution of bacterial cooperation. Evolution. 65: 21-32Rankin, D.J., Rocha, E.P.C. & Brown, S.P. (2011) What traits are carried on mobile elements and why? Heredity.106: 1-10Rankin, D.J., Bichsel, M. & Wagner, A. (2010) Mobile DNA can drive lineage extinction in prokaryotic populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 23: 2422-234Nogueira, T., Rankin, D.J., Touchon, M., Taddei, F., Brown, S.P. & Rocha, E.P.C. (2009) Horizontal gene transfer of the secretome drives the evolution of bacterial cooperation and virulence. Current Biology. 19: 1683-1691Weitere Informationen | ||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Social evolution, microbial evolution, horizontal gene transfer, cooperation and conflict | ||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
SNF (Personen- und Projektförderung) |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Oct 2009 to Oct 2012 |