The virulence plasmid carries genes for huge polyketide synthases: assembly line enzymes that produce a macrolide toxin with multiple activities that is known as mycolactone. Mycolactone is ...

ICEs can allow bacteria to survive in new environments and acquire virulence factors ... and can replicate autonomously as a plasmid. One new AICE, pMEA100, has been identified in Amycolatopsis ...

Thanks to technological advancements in nucleic acid sequencing and the shift toward molecular research and personalized ...

Members of the team had previously reported that P. rustigianii carries a cytolethal distending toxin virulence gene on its plasmid. Elimination of this gene did not reduce the bacteria's ...