Nippon Saikingaku Zasshi

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Horizontal gene transfer through transconjugation and natural transformation plays a major role in the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Although the phenomenon of genetic element transmission has long been known, the rapid increase in the number of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in recent years and the accompanying accumulation of genomic information have revealed that horizontal gene transfer contributes to genome plasticity in various ways. The author reported the molecular mechanism of the antimicrobial activity of the accessory factor bacteriocin encoded by the junctional transfer plasmid of Enterococcus faecalis, a representative Gram-positive opportunistic pathogen that is concerned as highly antimicrobial resistant, and found diversity in the selfimmune system based on epidemiological studies. In addition, the author established a technique to visualize and quantify genomic recombination by natural transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae which is also one of the most concerns for antimicrobial resistance and vaccine escape, at single cells level resolution in real time. Focuses on outcome from these research, this paper introduces the molecular mechanisms that promote horizontal gene transmission and the prospects for their technological application.

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