Peril and promise: Origins and spread of integron gene cassettes

危险与希望：整合子基因盒的起源和传播

• 批准号: DP200101874
• 负责人: Prof Michael Gillings
• 金额: $ 37.2万
• 依托单位: Macquarie University
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: Discovery Projects
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2020-11-13 至 2024-11-12
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/RGS/Web/Grants/DP200101874
• 关键词: Peril; promise; Origins; spread; integron

Integrons have a major role in spreading antibiotic resistance genes among pathogens. They do so by capturing gene cassettes encoding resistance, yet how these cassettes are generated, the taxa in which they originate, and the range of traits that cassettes can encode have been outstanding questions for 30 years. This project addresses these long standing questions. The project will analyze single bacterial cells to detect newly generated cassettes and assign them to specific taxa, using an innovative method that links cassette DNA to bacterial 16S rDNA. Understanding cassette origins is the key to controlling their activity, both to harness integrons for biotechnology, and to prevent pathogens from acquiring new, dangerous traits.

整合子在病原体之间传播抗生素抗性基因中起主要作用。他们通过捕获编码抗性的基因盒来做到这一点，然而这些基因盒是如何产生的，它们起源于什么分类群，以及基因盒可以编码的性状范围，30年来一直是悬而未决的问题。这个项目解决了这些长期存在的问题。该项目将分析单个细菌细胞，以检测新生成的盒，并使用将盒DNA与细菌16S rDNA连接的创新方法将它们分配给特定的分类群。了解盒的起源是控制其活性的关键，既可以利用整合子进行生物技术，也可以防止病原体获得新的危险特性。