Unravelling the impact of lateral transduction in the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

水平基因转移可以在一个步骤中将良性细菌转化为毒性或耐药性病原体。噬菌体，一种感染细菌的病毒，驱动基因转移。我们最近发现了一种新的基因转移形式，侧向转导，这是迄今为止描述的最强大的转导模式。利用这种机制，金黄色葡萄球菌的噬菌体可以促进细菌基因组中数十万个碱基的有效转移，使细菌能够交换基因，并迅速从良性转变为危险。这项工作将调查这种机制的普遍性，并确定其他细菌病原体是否使用相同的过程在自然界中进化。我们还将研究这种基因转移机制是否有助于临床菌株中多重耐药的出现。该计划将为科学做出重大贡献，从解决基本生物过程的分子基础到了解毒力的演变和自然界抗生素耐药性的传播。

Horizontal gene transfer can, in a single step, transform a benign bacterium into a virulent or drug-resistant pathogen. Bacteriophages, a type of virus that infects bacteria, drive gene transfer. We have recently identified a new form of gene transfer, lateral transduction, which is the most powerful mode of transduction described to date. Using this mechanism, bacteriophages of Staphylococcus aureus can promote the efficient transfer of hundreds of thousands of bases from the bacterial genome, allowing the bacteria to swap genes and switch from benign to dangerous very quickly. This work will investigate the universality of this mechanism, and identify whether other bacterial pathogens use the same process to evolve in nature. We will also investigate whether this mechanism of gene transfer contributes to the emergence of multi-resistance in clinical strains. This programme will make significant contributions to science, from addressing the molecular basis of fundamental biological processes to understanding the evolution of virulence and the spread of antibiotic resistance in nature.