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Comment
. 2017 Dec 12:6:e33383.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.33383.

Plasmid-powered evolutionary transitions

Ryan A Melnyk  1 , Cara H Haney  1   2
Affiliations
Comment

Plasmid-powered evolutionary transitions

Ryan A Melnyk et al. Elife. .

Abstract

The acquisition of a virulence plasmid is sufficient to turn a beneficial strain of Rhodococcus bacteria into a pathogen.

Keywords: Rhodococcus; epidemiology; evolutionary transition; global health; horizontal gene transfer; mutualism; plant biology; plant pathology; virulence.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests declared.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. The good and bad sides of Rhodococcus.
The acquisition of a virulence plasmid (yellow) can transform benign commensal strains of Rhodococcus (blue) into pathogenic strains (blue and yellow) that stunt the growth of the plant and its roots (left) compared with a healthy plant (right). However, this process is reversible, and the loss of the virulence plasmid results in the bacteria becoming commensal again.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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