How does S. pneumoniae acquire extracellular DNA from its natural environment to drive antibiotic resistance?

了解个体和群体之间的遗传信息流动是我们理解生物系统如何运作的基础。在细菌中，这种基因交换可以由一种称为能力的过程驱动，在这种过程中，细胞将来自环境的外来DNA直接整合到自己的基因组中。这包括与毒力和抗生素耐药性有关的基因，这些基因在感染期间提供了健康优势。自然能力最初是在肺炎链球菌中研究的，肺炎链球菌是一种在健康人呼吸道定居的细菌，但如果它们逃逸并在身体其他部位定居，也会导致毁灭性的感染。肺炎链球菌通过摄取自然环境中发现的其他细菌物种的胞外DNA来获得抗生素耐药性。这项研究旨在结合分子生物学、微流控设备和延时成像来揭示肺炎链球菌如何与其他细菌物种交换遗传物质。我们将改造肺炎链球菌，使其在将细胞外DNA整合到基因组中时表达荧光蛋白，使我们能够确定促进混合细菌群落内DNA转移的特定环境条件。这些知识最终可能导致对肺炎链球菌如何获得抗生素耐药性和逃避疫苗的新见解。

Understanding the flow of genetic information between individuals and communities is fundamental to our understanding of how biological systems function. In bacteria, this genetic exchange can be driven by a process called competence, where cells integrate foreign DNA from their environment directly into their genomes. This includes genes involved in virulence and antibiotic resistance which provide fitness advantages during infection.Natural competence was first studied in Streptococcus pneumoniae, a species of bacteria that colonises the respiratory tract of healthy people, but also causes devastating infections if they escape and colonise other areas of the body. S.pneumoniae acquires antibiotic resistance through the uptake of extracellular DNA from other bacterial species found in their natural environment. This study aims to use a combination of molecular biology, microfluidic devices, and time-lapse imaging to unravel how S.pneumoniae exchanges genetic material with other bacteria species. We will engineer S.pneumoniae to express fluorescent proteins when they integrate extracellular DNA into their genomes, allowing us to determine the specific environmental conditions that facilitate DNA transfer within mixed bacterial communities. This knowledge the may ultimately lead to new insights on how S.pneumoniae acquires antibiotic resistance and evades vaccines.