Cryptic plasmids

In molecular biology, a cryptic plasmid is a plasmid that doesn't appear to provide any clear advantage to its host, yet still persists in bacterial populations.^[1] The maintenance of cryptic plasmids might be explained by mechanisms like horizontal gene transfer (e.g., conjugation, transduction) that balance their loss due to segregation.^[2]

References

^ Fogarty EC, Schechter MS, Lolans K, Sheahan ML, Veseli I, Moore RM, et al. (February 2024). "A cryptic plasmid is among the most numerous genetic elements in the human gut". Cell. 187 (5): 1206–1222.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.039. PMC 10973873. PMID 38428395.
^ Summers DK (1996). "Chapter 1 – The Function and Organization of Plasmids". The Biology of Plasmids (First ed.). Osney, Oxford OX: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-0-632-03436-9.

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[1] Fogarty EC, Schechter MS, Lolans K, Sheahan ML, Veseli I, Moore RM, et al. (February 2024). "A cryptic plasmid is among the most numerous genetic elements in the human gut". Cell. 187 (5): 1206–1222.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.039. PMC 10973873. PMID 38428395.

[2] Summers DK (1996). "Chapter 1 – The Function and Organization of Plasmids". The Biology of Plasmids (First ed.). Osney, Oxford OX: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-0-632-03436-9.

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