title: Multiple phenotypic changes associated with large-scale horizontal gene transfer.
abstract: Horizontal gene transfer often leads to phenotypic changes within recipient organisms independent of any immediate evolutionary benefits. While secondary phenotypic effects of horizontal transfer (i.e., changes in growth rates) have been demonstrated and studied across a variety of systems using relatively small plasmids and phage, little is known about the magnitude or number of such costs after the transfer of larger regions. Here we describe numerous phenotypic changes that occur after a large-scale horizontal transfer event (∼1 Mb megaplasmid) within Pseudomonas stutzeri including sensitization to various stresses as well as changes in bacterial behavior. These results highlight the power of horizontal transfer to shift pleiotropic relationships and cellular networks within bacterial genomes. They also provide an important context for how secondary effects of transfer can bias evolutionary trajectories and interactions between species. Lastly, these results and system provide a foundation to investigate evolutionary consequences in real time as newly acquired regions are ameliorated and integrated into new genomic contexts.
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brian A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Autumn F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maitland
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fanger
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Murillo
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Baltrus
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D044223:Pseudomonas stutzeri / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology