Bacteria are known to exchange genes via conjugative plasmids and integrative and conjugative elements.
This ‘amplification effect’ could have an impact on the evolution of bacterial pathogens that exist in heterogeneous bacterial communities because conjugative plasmids can carry virulence or antibiotic-resistance genes.
Although the data are scarce, naturally occurring conjugative resistance plasmids are also generally considered costly when there is no selection for the resistance phenotype.
The improvement is generally not due to changes in the rate constant of conjugative transfer or in the cost of plasmid carriage, which can be estimated as the difference between recipient and donor growth rates.
Furthermore, many of the agents of exchange (bacteriophages, transmissible and conjugative plasmids) are themselves best viewed as selfish elements.
Definition of conjugative in US English:
conjugative
adjectiveˈkänjəˌɡātiv
See conjugate
Example sentencesExamples
Bacteria are known to exchange genes via conjugative plasmids and integrative and conjugative elements.
Although the data are scarce, naturally occurring conjugative resistance plasmids are also generally considered costly when there is no selection for the resistance phenotype.
This ‘amplification effect’ could have an impact on the evolution of bacterial pathogens that exist in heterogeneous bacterial communities because conjugative plasmids can carry virulence or antibiotic-resistance genes.
The improvement is generally not due to changes in the rate constant of conjugative transfer or in the cost of plasmid carriage, which can be estimated as the difference between recipient and donor growth rates.
Furthermore, many of the agents of exchange (bacteriophages, transmissible and conjugative plasmids) are themselves best viewed as selfish elements.