Microbial Ecologist @ TU Dresden
Focusing on Evolution, Ecology and Environmental dimensions of AMR & plasmids
Formerly @ DTU & UoExeter
He/him
Uli Klümper
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This work, driven by Faina Tskhay with Haining Huang (UFZ) and Anja Worrich (BTU), asked:
👉 Do plasmid–plasmid interactions shape EV-mediated gene export?
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🔬 Results:
When alone → conjugative plasmids dominate EV cargo
When coexisting → mobilizable plasmids take over
This leads to a complete reversal of plasmid ratios and strong fold-changes in EV incorporation.
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🚀New preprint by my PhD Student Faina Tskhay
Plasmid-plasmid interactions reshape extracellular vesicle cargo and gene transfer potential
👉https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.28.721519
Plasmid interactions are well known in conjugation, but are they relevant for other gene transfer routes?
#AMR
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⚙️ Mechanistically:
Mobilizable plasmids exploit conjugative transfer machinery, gain access to membrane-associated export sites, and outcompete conjugative plasmids for EV incorporation.
👉 The same interaction principle extends beyond conjugation.
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In conjugation, mobilizable plasmids exploit conjugative machinery, compete for access, and reshape transfer dynamics.
Outside of conjugation, these interactions were largely assumed to not matter for HGT.
We tested this for extracellular vesicles (EVs).
2/6
Our new advanced wastewater treatment paper in npj Clean Water:
Reusable immobilised quaternary ammonium particles reduce microbial and resistome burdens without promoting resistance selection during wastewater post-treatment
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🌍 Why it matters:
EV cargo is not random but structured by plasmid interactions, determining which genes enter the extracellular pool
In multi-plasmid systems, this could directly influence AMR dissemination
Would love to hear your thoughts 👇
#Plasmids #HGT #EVs #AMR
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