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SELFISH TO ALTRUISTIC. "Although plasmids seem to behave like selfish genetic elements, they at times also carry metabolic genes and may thus be directly beneficial to future hosts." https://lnkd.in/exyreqd View in LinkedIn

ACID PROTECTION. "The convoluted gland leading to the poison gland of formicine ants is lined with hexadecanol and its formate and acetate, and may protect the gland from formic acid corrosion." https://lnkd.in/e8TW9gg View in LinkedIn

AUTONOMOUS REPLICATION. "Plasmids are DNA molecules that can replicate independently of chromosomal DNA in a cell. This ability allows them to “collect” and move genes, such as through lateral gene transfer, and is a factor that allows prokaryotic genomes to evolve over time." https://lnkd.in/eRhnEZd View in LinkedIn

UNKNOWN MECHANISM. "The tissues of the poison sac and the ejaculatory duct resist the action of such a strong acid and that the mechanism of that resistance is quite unknown." https://lnkd.in/ev_AHuh View in LinkedIn

MOLECULAR REPLICONS. "Bacterial plasmids are nucleotide sequences floating in the cytoplasm of bacteria. These molecules replicate independently from the main chromosomal DNA and are not essential to the survival or replication of their host. Plasmids are thought to be part of the bacterial domain’s mobilome, a sort of genetic commonwealth which most, if not all, bacterial cells can pull from, incorporate and express." https://lnkd.in/e8wKCHY View in LinkedIn

ANT CONTRIBUTION. "The formicine ants represent about 10% of all ant species and their estimated 100 trillion individuals may produce on a global basis as much as ten billion (10(13)) kilograms of atmospheric formic acid each year." Human production of formic acid in 2008 was a mere 720 million kg. https://lnkd.in/e4HnhCR View in LinkedIn

CURIOUS CODE. Mobile genetic code elements are rather like viral computer codes gone native. Not part of a complete organism, unregulated scraps of genetic information that can attach to the Master Code of a target organism, mutate and evolve, replicate, cross species, and skip at will to a new host. At times very destructive, at others perhaps accidentally beneficial. Simply weird. View in LinkedIn

DOWNSIDES OF MOBILITY. "Public health officials have raised concerns that plasmid transfer between Enterobacteriaceae species may spread resistance to carbapenems, an antibiotic class of last resort, thereby rendering common health care–associated infections nearly impossible to treat." https://lnkd.in/ei4d4uT View in LinkedIn

MOBILE GENES. "We all know that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a problem – maybe even 'as big a risk as terrorism' – but how is this resistance passed on from one bug to another? One key culprit is plasmids: these are small 'hula hoops' of DNA that occur naturally within the cells of bacteria (and some eukaryotes) and are completely independent of the main bacterial genome." https://lnkd.in/eNHPm6b View in LinkedIn

THE MANY EDGES OF EVOLUTION. "The hallmark genes of viruses, those that encode key proteins involved in genome replication and virion formation, are represented in a broad range of elements that form many edges in the evolutionary network." https://lnkd.in/eqriJpu View in LinkedIn