Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium ...

Many plasmids are incapable of conjugating on their own (non-conjugative plasmids) as they lack the machinery for conjugation; sometimes, these can be mobilized for transfer by the presence of a ...

Yet plasmids have their downsides, and past research has shown that bacteria readily shed them. "Even though they can carry beneficial genes, plasmids can also interfere with many types of ...

While most bacterial DNA is in the form of plasmids, there are some that have linear DNA that ... This study utilized two different types of bacteria, each representing a different type of ...

A research team at the University of Münster has investigated for the first time how the confrontation of bacteria with hosts ...

The experiment involved introducing these barcoding plasmids into E. coli donor bacteria, which then transferred their genetic material to various microbes in a wastewater community.

There is a worldwide aim to be able to reduce the use of so-called broad-spectrum antibiotics, which act against many different types of bacteria and are used when it is unclear which particular ...