Bacterial conjugation, also referred to as bacterial sex, is a major horizontal gene transfer
mechanism through which DNA is transferred from a donor to a recipient bacterium by direct …

Considerable progress has been made in recent years in the structural and molecular
biology of type IV secretion systems in Gram-negative bacteria. The latest advances have …

Bacterial type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) are a versatile group of nanomachines that can
horizontally transfer DNA through conjugation and deliver effector proteins into a wide range …

Bacteria of the genus Legionella are natural pathogens of amoebae that can cause a severe
pneumonia in humans called Legionnaires' Disease. Human disease results from inhalation …

Conjugation is the process by which bacteria exchange genetic materials in a unidirectional
manner from a donor cell to a recipient cell. The discovery of conjugation signalled the dawn …

Genetic transformation of host plants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and related species
represents a unique model for natural horizontal gene transfer. Almost five decades of …

Objectives Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) are ubiquitous opportunistic
pathogens that combine intrinsic and acquired multidrug resistance phenotypes. Due to …

Horizontal transfer of F-like plasmids by bacterial conjugation is responsible for
disseminating antibiotic resistance and virulence determinants among pathogenic …

Highlights•Plasmid colonization of a new host requires a predetermined sequence of
events.•Colonization steps are contact initiation, invasion, establishment and …

Bacteria use a wide arsenal of macromolecular substrates (DNA and proteins) to interact
with or infect prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. To do so, they utilize substrate-injecting …