Diverse anti-defence systems are encoded in the leading region of plasmids.

Abstract

Plasmids are major drivers of gene mobilization by means of horizontal gene transfer and play a key role in spreading antimicrobial resistance among pathogens^1,2. Despite various bacterial defence mechanisms such as CRISPR-Cas, restriction-modification systems and SOS-response genes that prevent the invasion of mobile genetic elements³, plasmids robustly transfer within bacterial populations through conjugation^4,5. Here we show that the leading region of plasmids, the first to enter recipient cells, is a hotspot for an extensive repertoire of anti-defence systems, encoding anti-CRISPR, anti-restriction, anti-SOS and other counter-defence proteins. We further identified in the leading region a prevalence of promoters known to allow expression from single-stranded DNA⁶, potentially facilitating rapid protection against bacterial immunity during the early stages of plasmid establishment. We demonstrated experimentally the importance of anti-defence gene localization in the leading region for efficient conjugation. These results indicate that focusing on the leading region of plasmids could lead to the discovery of diverse anti-defence genes. Combined, our findings show a new facet of plasmid dissemination and provide theoretical foundations for developing efficient conjugative delivery systems for natural microbial communities.