pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Laboratory-scale evidence for lightning-mediated gene transfer in soil - PubMed

Laboratory-scale evidence for lightning-mediated gene transfer in soil

S Demanèche et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2001 Aug.

Abstract

Electrical fields and current can permeabilize bacterial membranes, allowing for the penetration of naked DNA. Given that the environment is subjected to regular thunderstorms and lightning discharges that induce enormous electrical perturbations, the possibility of natural electrotransformation of bacteria was investigated. We demonstrated with soil microcosm experiments that the transformation of added bacteria could be increased locally via lightning-mediated current injection. The incorporation of three genes coding for antibiotic resistance (plasmid pBR328) into the Escherichia coli strain DH10B recipient previously added to soil was observed only after the soil had been subjected to laboratory-scale lightning. Laboratory-scale lightning had an electrical field gradient (700 versus 600 kV m(-1)) and current density (2.5 versus 12.6 kA m(-2)) similar to those of full-scale lightning. Controls handled identically except for not being subjected to lightning produced no detectable antibiotic-resistant clones. In addition, simulated storm cloud electrical fields (in the absence of current) did not produce detectable clones (transformation detection limit, 10(-9)). Natural electrotransformation might be a mechanism involved in bacterial evolution.

PubMed Disclaimer

Cited by

Non-equilibrium behaviour in coacervate-based protocells under electric-field-induced excitation.
Yin Y, Niu L, Zhu X, Zhao M, Zhang Z, Mann S, Liang D. Yin Y, et al. Nat Commun. 2016 Feb 15;7:10658. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10658. Nat Commun. 2016. PMID: 26876162 Free PMC article.
Evaluating the probability of CRISPR-based gene drive contaminating another species.
Courtier-Orgogozo V, Danchin A, Gouyon PH, Boëte C. Courtier-Orgogozo V, et al. Evol Appl. 2020 Apr 17;13(8):1888-1905. doi: 10.1111/eva.12939. eCollection 2020 Sep. Evol Appl. 2020. PMID: 32908593 Free PMC article.
Natural Pseudomonas sp. strain N3 in artificial soil microcosms.
Cérémonie H, Buret F, Simonet P, Vogel TM. Cérémonie H, et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2006 Apr;72(4):2385-9. doi: 10.1128/AEM.72.4.2385-2389.2006. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2006. PMID: 16597934 Free PMC article.
Effects of Lightning on Rhizosphere Soil Properties, Bacterial Communities, and Active Components of Camellia sinensis var. assamica.
Chen Y, Li Q, Wu W, Liu X, Cheng J, Deng X, Cai X, Yuan W, Xie J, Zhang S, Wang B. Chen Y, et al. Front Microbiol. 2022 May 23;13:911226. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.911226. eCollection 2022. Front Microbiol. 2022. PMID: 35677900 Free PMC article.
Isolation of lightning-competent soil bacteria.
Cérémonie H, Buret F, Simonet P, Vogel TM. Cérémonie H, et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004 Oct;70(10):6342-6. doi: 10.1128/AEM.70.10.6342-6346.2004. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004. PMID: 15466589 Free PMC article.

References

1. Baur B, Hanselmann K, Schlimme W, Jenni B. Genetic transformation in freshwater: Escherichia coli is able to develop natural competence. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1996;62:3673–3678. - PMC - PubMed
1. Ben Rhouma A, Auriol P. Modelling of the whole electric field changes during a close lightning discharge. J Phys D. 1997;30:598–602.
1. Bertolla F, Frostegard A, Brito B, Nesme X, Simonet P. During infection of its host, the plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum naturally develops a state of competence and exchanges genetic material. Mol Plant-Microbe Interact. 1999;12:467–472.
1. Demanèche S, Jocteur-Monrozier L, Quiquampoix H, Simonet P. Evaluation of biological and physical protection against nuclease degradation of clay-bound plasmid DNA. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2001;67:293–299. - PMC - PubMed
1. Doolittle W F. Phylogenetic classification and the universal tree. Science. 1999;284:2124–2129. - PubMed

Laboratory-scale evidence for lightning-mediated gene transfer in soil - PubMed