Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major problems in current practical medicine. The
spread of genes coding for resistance determinants among bacteria challenges the use of …

Given the spasmodic increment in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), world is on the verge of
“post-antibiotic era”. It is anticipated that current SARS-CoV2 pandemic would worsen the …

Plasmids can mediate horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance, virulence genes, and
other adaptive factors across bacterial populations. Here, we analyze genomic composition …

Plasmids play an important role in bacterial genome evolution by transferring genes
between lineages. Fitness costs associated with plasmid carriage are expected to be a …

Infections caused by antibiotic‐resistant bacteria are a major public health threat. The
emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment or clinical …

The'plasmid paradox'arises because, although plasmids are common features of bacterial
genomes, theoretically they should not exist: rates of conjugation were believed insufficient …

Evolution is the hallmark of life. Descriptions of the evolution of microorganisms have
provided a wealth of information, but knowledge regarding “what happened” has precluded …

Plasmid acquisition is an important mechanism of rapid adaptation and niche expansion in
prokaryotes. Positive selection for plasmid-coded functions is a major driver of plasmid …

Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA elements that can be found throughout bacteria, as
well as in other domains of life. Nonetheless, the evolutionary processes underlying the …

Naturally occurring plasmids come in different sizes. The smallest are less than a kilobase of
DNA, while the largest can be over three orders of magnitude larger. Historically, research …