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| plasmids | |
|---|---|
| Name | Plasmid |
| Classification | Genetic element |
| Discovered | 1952 |
| Discoverer | Joshua and Esther Lederberg |
plasmids Plasmids are extrachromosomal, usually circular DNA molecules that replicate autonomously in many prokaryotic and some eukaryotic cells. They were first characterized during studies by Joshua Lederberg and Esther Lederberg and later linked to antibiotic resistance issues investigated by researchers associated with institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. Plasmids have become essential tools across laboratories at places like the Max Planck Society, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
Plasmids appear in diverse taxa studied by teams from the Sanger Institute, Harvard Medical School, MIT Media Lab, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Johns Hopkins University, University of California, Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institute, ETH Zurich, University of Tokyo, Peking University, Seoul National University, Institut Pasteur, CNRS, University of Toronto, McGill University, National Institutes of Health, National Center for Biotechnology Information, European Bioinformatics Institute, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, International Rice Research Institute, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller University, Weizmann Institute of Science, Cold Spring Harbor and numerous biotech companies including Genentech, Amgen, Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Bayer, Gilead Sciences, Sanofi, Illumina, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Agilent Technologies. Plasmids are central to research in laboratories participating in projects like the Human Genome Project, ENCODE Project, 1000 Genomes Project and large-scale surveillance initiatives such as Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System.
Plasmid architecture has been elucidated using methods developed at institutions like EMBL-EBI, Broad Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and techniques refined by scientists affiliated with Rosalind Franklin's contemporaries and successors at Imperial College London. Types include small cryptic plasmids characterized in studies at Duke University, low-copy plasmids described in work from Yale University, high-copy plasmids examined at Princeton University, conjugative plasmids first detailed by researchers connected to University of Wisconsin–Madison, mobilizable plasmids studied at Ohio State University, resistance plasmids observed by teams at University of Oxford, virulence plasmids investigated by groups at University of Cambridge, and engineered cloning vectors devised by pioneers at Genentech and Cetus Corporation. Classification schemes have been proposed at symposia hosted by Gordon Research Conferences and through standards developed at International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology meetings.
Mechanisms of plasmid replication were unraveled through biochemical work by laboratories including those at University of California, San Francisco, Massachusetts General Hospital, Riken, Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) and were integrated into models taught in courses at University of Chicago and Columbia University. Plasmids replicate via theta replication or rolling-circle mechanisms characterized by proteins studied in teams at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Salk Institute for Biological Studies, with replication initiation proteins and origin sequences mapped in projects supported by Wellcome Trust and National Science Foundation. Maintenance systems such as partitioning loci (par), post-segregational killing systems (toxin-antitoxin) and copy-number control were analyzed by investigators at University of California, San Diego, University of British Columbia, Monash University, University of Melbourne and University of São Paulo.
Plasmids often carry genes conferring traits identified by collaborations between public health agencies like European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and academic centers including University of Amsterdam, Karolinska Institutet, King's College London and Imperial College. Common genetic elements include antibiotic resistance determinants discovered in clinical isolates tracked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and European Medicines Agency; virulence factors studied in outbreaks investigated by Public Health England and Robert Koch Institute; metabolic pathways characterized in environmental microbiology groups at Wageningen University, University of Helsinki and University of Copenhagen; and mobile elements such as insertion sequences, transposons and integrons mapped by researchers from Japanese Society for Microbial Ecology. Engineered features like selectable markers, reporter genes and multiple cloning sites are routinely used in protocols from Addgene, ATCC, Gibco and workflow platforms developed by Benchling.
Horizontal gene transfer mediated by plasmids has been central to studies by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Yale School of Public Health and international consortia including Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Conjugative systems involve type IV secretion apparatus components elucidated by structural biology teams at European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and cryo-EM facilities at Diamond Light Source and Argonne National Laboratory. Plasmid-mediated spread of resistance has been a focus of surveillance from World Health Organization collaborations with national institutes like Institut Pasteur and Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Plasmids underpin recombinant DNA technologies pioneered at Stanford University and University of California, San Francisco and commercialized by companies such as Genentech and Amgen. They serve as vectors for gene expression in systems developed at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and academic spinouts from Harvard University and MIT. In gene therapy and vaccine development, plasmid DNA platforms have been employed in clinical trials coordinated by institutions including National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical partners like Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Plasmid design, biosafety and intellectual property are subjects of policy discussions involving United States Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office and regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration.
Plasmid dynamics shape microbial communities in studies conducted at field sites tied to Smithsonian Institution, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Geological Survey, Australian National University and research programs like the Horizon 2020 projects and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Evolutionary models integrating plasmid fitness costs and benefits have been developed by theoreticians at Santa Fe Institute, Rutgers University, University of Michigan and Brown University, while metagenomic surveys from European Nucleotide Archive, MG-RAST and consortia such as the Earth Microbiome Project map plasmid prevalence across environments including soil studies by INRAE teams and marine microbiology labs at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Category:Genetic elements