Vibrio cholerae bacteria form dense biofilms on biotic surfaces, which fosters interbacterial killing and horizontal gene transfer. Credit: G. Knott & M. Blokesch, EPFL
EPFL scientists have discovered that predatory bacteria like the cholera pathogen can steal up to 150 genes in one go from their neighbors. The study sheds light on one of the most fundamental mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer. In 2015, EPFL researchers led by Melanie Blokesch published a seminal paper in Science showing that the bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholerae , uses a spring-loaded spear to literally stab neighboring bacteria and steal their DNA. They identified the spear mechanism to be the so-called "type VI secretion system" or T6SS, also used for interbacterial competition by many other bacteria. V. cholerae uses its T6SS to compete with other bacteria in its aquatic environment and acquire new genetic material, which the pathogen absorbs and exchanges against some parts of its own genome. This mode of "horizontal gene transfer" leads to rapid evolution and pathogen emergence. The pathogen V. cholerae has caused seven major cholera pandemics since 1817 and, according to current WHO data , still kills more than 100,000 people each year and infects up to 4 million others, mostly in poor or underdeveloped countries.
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