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Fragmented aqueous habitats affect bacterial plasmid transfer in porous environments
(2019)Horizontal transfer of plasmids among bacterial populations is critical to genetic exchange and adaptation to environmental stresses. Studies have examined how bacterial cell density, donor-recipient ratio and nutrient availability affect plasmid transfer rates in homogeneous cultures. The insights are useful, however, they often neglect the ubiquitous physical heterogeneity of natural microbial habitats such as soil environments. Our ...Conference Poster -
Cell distribution and habitat fragmentation affecting the spread of plasmids in soil bacterial populations
(2019)Aims and Objectives. Transfer of conjugative plasmids among soil bacteria is an important evolutionary driver for fostering adaptation to environmental stresses such as antibiotic or xenobiotic contamination. However, plasmids impose a metabolic burden on host cells and the reason for their persistence over evolutionary times remains unclear. Here, we hypothesize that soil environments favor plasmid maintenance due to habitat fragmentation ...Conference Poster