Pneumococcal Extracellular Vesicles Mediate Horizontal Gene Transfer via the Transformation Machinery.
Sarah Werner LassShaw CamphireBailey E SmithRory A EutseyJojo A PrenticeSaigopalakrishna S YerneniAshni ArunAndrew A BridgesJason W RoschJames F ConwayPhil CampbellN Luisa HillerPublished in: bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology (2023)
This work extends our understanding of horizontal gene transfer and the roles of extracellular vesicles in pneumococcus. This bacterium serves as the model for transformation, a process by which bacteria can take up naked DNA from the environment. Here we show that extracellular vesicles secreted by the pneumococcus have DNA on their surface, and that this DNA can be imported by the transformation machinery facilitating gene transfer. Understanding EV-mediated gene transfer may provide new avenues to manage the spread of antibiotic drug resistance.