Open AccessPlasmids do not consistently stabilize cooperation across bacteria but may promote broad pathogen host-range
Author(s) -
Anna E. Dewar,
Joshua Thomas,
Thomas W. Scott,
Geoff Wild,
Ashleigh S. Griffin,
Stuart A. West,
Melanie Ghoul
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nature ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.822
H-Index - 57
ISSN - 2397-334X
DOI - 10.1038/s41559-021-01573-2
Subject(s) - plasmid , horizontal gene transfer , biology , gene , genetics , virulence , bacteria , host (biology) , population , pathogen , genome , demography , sociology
Horizontal gene transfer via plasmids could favour cooperation in bacteria, because transfer of a cooperative gene turns non-cooperative cheats into cooperators. This hypothesis has received support from theoretical, genomic and experimental analyses. By contrast, we show here, with a comparative analysis across 51 diverse species, that genes for extracellular proteins, which are likely to act as cooperative 'public goods', were not more likely to be carried on either: (1) plasmids compared to chromosomes; or (2) plasmids that transfer at higher rates. Our results were supported by theoretical modelling which showed that, while horizontal gene transfer can help cooperative genes initially invade a population, it has less influence on the longer-term maintenance of cooperation. Instead, we found that genes for extracellular proteins were more likely to be on plasmids when they coded for pathogenic virulence traits, in pathogenic bacteria with a broad host-range.