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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EVOLHGT (Selective Barriers to Horizontal Gene Transfer)

Teaser

Summary

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a form of genic inheritance that occurs between individuals in a population or be- tween species rather than from parent to offspring. HGT is most prevalent in bacteria, where it is an important source of novel metabolic pathways, pathogenicity factors, and antibiotic resistance.
In spite of the importance of HGT, we understand little about the evolutionary barriers to HGT. This project takes a systematic experimental approach to elucidate factors that select for or against horizontally transferred genes by quantifying intrinsic selection acting on newly transferred genes, by experimentally transferring and expressing several hundred genes across species boundaries. We will be able to systematically classify genes as resistant or permissive to transfer, examine the effect of the function and position in metabolic and regulatory networks on resistance to transfer, as well as identify any genes with substantial intrinsic benefits. Overall, this work will provide a systematic analysis of the roles of different factors in affecting the outcomes of horizontal gene transfer. Understanding this process in a quantitative fashion is critical to understanding bacterial adaptation and diversity. This research has important implications for understanding the spread of antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity factors that have an important impact on public health, agriculture, and our economy.

Work performed

In the initial phase of the project we have developed a high throughput protocol for measuring fitness using flow cytometry. With this system we are able to measure very small fitness effects of transferred genes (s<10-5). Construction of this system involved engineering Escherichia coli backgrounds that are marked with different fluorescent markers. To date we have created plasmid constructs for 93 Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli genes that are used to artificially transfer them to a new host and measure the fitness impacts. Using these constructs we have measured the fitness consequences of transferring these genes and find that factors such as gene length, gene dosage, and whether a gene is involved in information processing are significant barriers to horizontal gene transfer (HGT). In addition, we have evaluated the fitness effects of these newly transferred genes in six different environments that a routinely experienced by E. coli. We find that informational genes tend to be more deleterious than operational genes but that this is highly dependent on the environment, suggesting the environment plays a critical role if the probability of a successful HGT event. We are currently preparing these results for two publications in high profile journals.

Final results

The project has produced the first of a kind systematic analysis of factors that influence horizontal gene transfer (HGT). The impact of work so far lies in fundamentally understanding barriers to HGT, which has implications for increasing our basic scientific understanding, but also understanding factors (e.g., the environment) that may affect our public health strategies for curtailing the horizontal spread of antimicrobial resistance factors, pathogenicity factors, and toxins. In addition, understanding the spread of these factors has important implications for the economic burden imposed on human agriculture by horizontal gene transfer.