virology blog

About viruses and viral disease

plasmid

A plasmid on the road to becoming a virus

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Origin of virusesPlasmids have been discovered that can move from cell to cell within membrane vesicles in a species of Archaea (link to paper). They provide clues about the origin of virus particles.

Electron microscope analysis of the culture medium from Halobrum lacusprofundi R1S1, an Archaeal strain from Antarctica, revealed spherical particles which were subsequently shown to contain a 50,000 base pair circular double-stranded DNA molecule. When added to H. lacusprofundi, the purified membrane vesicles entered the cells and the DNA replicated.

Nucleotide sequence analysis of the plasmid within the membrane vesicles revealed 48 potential protein coding regions and an origin of DNA replication. None of these proteins showed any similarity to viral stuctural proteins, leading the authors to conclude that these particles are not viruses.

Many of the proteins encoded in the plasmid DNA were found in the membrane vesicles. Some of these are similar to cell proteins known to be involved in the generation of membrane vesicles. However no DNA polymerase-like proteins are encoded in the plasmid. These data suggest that the plasmid encodes proteins that generate, from the membranes of the cell, the vesicles needed for their transport to other cells. However, replication of the plasmid is carried out by cellular DNA polymerases.

It is likely that the plasmid-containing membrane vesicles are precursors of what we know today as virus particles. It is thought that viruses originated from selfish genetic elements such as plasmids and transposons when these nucleic acids acquired structural proteins (pictured; image credit). Phylogenetic analyses of the structural proteins of many enveloped and naked viruses reveal that they likely originated from cell proteins on multiple occasions (link to paper).

The membrane-encased Archaeal plasmid seems well on its way to becoming a virus, pending acquisition of viral structural proteins. Such an early precursor of virus particles has never been seen before, emphasizing that science should not be conducted only under the streetlight.

TWiV 428: Lyse globally, protect locally

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The TWiVsters explain how superspreader bacteriophages release intact DNA from infected cells, and the role of astrocytes in protecting the cerebellum from virus infection.

You can find TWiV #428 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below.

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Bacteriophage superspreaders

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bacteriophage modelBacteriophages are the most abundant biological entities on Earth. There are 1031 of them on the planet, and they infect 1023 to 1025 bacteria every second. That’s a lot of lysis, and it leads to the release of huge quantities of DNA that can be taken up by other organisms, leading to new traits. It seems that some bacteriophages are very, very good at releasing intact DNA, and they have been called superspreaders (link to paper).

In a very simple experiment, E. coli cells carrying a plasmid encoding ampicillin resistance were infected with the well studied phages T4 and T7 and also with a collection of 20 phages isolated from soil, water, and feces in Miami and Washington DC. After the cells lysed, DNA was extracted from the culture medium and introduced into antibiotic sensitive E. coli. Two phages, called SUSP1 and SUSP2, were thousands of times better at releasing plasmid DNA that readily conferred antibiotic resistance. These phages are superspreaders.

Superspreader phages can promote transformation by different plasmids, so their unique talent is not sequence specific. When these phages lyse cells, intact plasmid DNA is released. In contrast, phage T4 infection leads to degradation of plasmid DNA in the host cell. Superspreader phages lack genes encoding known  endonucleases – enzymes that degrade DNA, possibly explaining why plasmids are not degraded during infection. Other phages that lack such endonucleases, including mutants of lambda and T4, also promote plasmid mediated transformation.

Phages SUP1 and SUP2 don’t just spread plasmids to laboratory strains like E. coli. When crude mixtures of soil bacteria from Wyoming and Maryland were mixed with SUP1 and SUP2 lysates from E. coli, antibiotic resistance was readily transferred. One of the main recipients of plasmid DNA is a member of the Bacillus genus of soil bacteria, showing that superspreaders can move DNA into hosts of a species other than the one they can infect.

With so many bacteriophages on the planet, it is likely that there are many other superspreaders like SUP1 and SUP2 out there. The implication is that massive amounts of intact plasmid DNAs are being released every second. These DNAs can be readily taken up into other bacteria, leading to new phenotypes such as antibiotic resistance, altered host range, virulence, the ability to colonize new niches, and much more.

You might wonder if all that plasmid DNA, floating in the environment, can also enter eukaryotic cells – and the answer is yes. No wonder eukaryotes didn’t invent anything.