Evolutionary Advantage Research Articles

Computational approach to identify novel genomic features conferring high fitness in Bacillus atrophaeus CNY01 and Bacillus velezensis AK-0 associated with plant growth promotion (PGP) in apple

A comparative genomic analysis approach provides valuable information about genetic variations and evolutionary relationships among microorganisms, aiding not only in the identification of functional genes responsible for traits such as pathogenicity, antibiotic resistance, and metabolic capabilities but also in enhancing our understanding of microbial genomic diversity and their ecological roles, such as supporting plant growth promotion, thereby enabling the development of sustainable strategies for agriculture. We used two strains from different Bacillus species, Bacillus velezensis AK-0 and Bacillus atrophaeus CNY01, which have previously been reported to have PGP activity in apple, and performed comparative genomic analysis to understand their evolutionary process and obtain a mechanistic understanding of their plant growth-promoting activity. We identified genomic features such as mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that encode key proteins involved in the survival, adaptation and growth of these bacterial strains. The presence of genomic islands and intact prophage DNA in Bacillus atrophaeus CNY01 and Bacillus velezensis AK-0 suggests that horizontal gene transfer has contributed to their diversification and acquisition of adaptive traits, enhancing their evolutionary advantage. We also identified novel DNA motifs that are associated with key physiological processes and metabolic pathways.

OXA β-lactamases from Acinetobacter spp. are membrane-bound and secreted into outer membrane vesicles.

β-lactamases represent the main mechanism of antimicrobial resistance in Gram-negative pathogens. Their catalytic function (cleaving β-lactam antibiotics) occurs in the bacterial periplasm, where they are commonly reported as soluble proteins. A bioinformatic analysis reveals a significant number of putative lipidated β-lactamases, expected to be attached to the outer bacterial membrane. Notably, 60% of class D OXA β-lactamases (all from Acinetobacter spp) are predicted as membrane-anchored proteins. We demonstrate that two clinically relevant carbapenemases, OXA-23 and OXA-24/40 are membrane-bound proteins in A. baumannii . This cellular localization favors secretion of these enzymes into outer membrane vesicles that transport them outside the boundaries of the cell. β-lactamase-loaded vesicles can protect populations of antibiotic-susceptible bacteria, enabling them to thrive in the presence of β-lactam antibiotics. The ubiquity of this phenomenon suggests that it may have influenced the dissemination of resistance mediated by Acinetobacter spp., particularly in polymicrobial infections, being a potent evolutionary advantage.

Trust in the Workplace: Understanding How our Brains Make Decisions to Build Effective Organizational Leadership

Abstract: This article examines the neurological bases of trust and how an awareness of unconscious trust processes can help leaders foster trusting relationships and high-performing teams. On a basic level, the brain's socioemotional circuitry generates rapid, automatic trust judgments when assessing new people or situations. Regions like the amygdala, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex evaluate factors like similarity, attractiveness, emotional expressions, body language, and facial features to determine trustworthiness outside of conscious control. While these reflexive processes conferred an evolutionary advantage, they can misfire or introduce biases in modern contexts if not guided by higher-level reasoning. The article discusses how implicit biases around these factors can impact trust dynamics. It also outlines techniques leaders can use to strategically manage first impressions and behaviors over time - through consistency, competency, care, and relationship building - to establish trust at both implicit and explicit levels. Understanding the interplay between conscious and unconscious trust judgments allows for optimizing organizational culture.

Transcriptomic Response of Rhizobium leguminosarum to Acidic Stress and Nutrient Limitation Is Versatile and Substantially Influenced by Extrachromosomal Gene Pool.

Multipartite genomes are thought to confer evolutionary advantages to bacteria by providing greater metabolic flexibility in fluctuating environments and enabling rapid adaptation to new ecological niches and stress conditions. This genome architecture is commonly found in plant symbionts, including nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, such as Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii TA1 (RtTA1), whose genome comprises a chromosome and four extrachromosomal replicons (ECRs). In this study, the transcriptomic responses of RtTA1 to partial nutrient limitation and low acidic pH were analyzed using high-throughput RNA sequencing. RtTA1 growth under these conditions resulted in the differential expression of 1035 to 1700 genes (DEGs), which were assigned to functional categories primarily related to amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism, ribosome and cell envelope biogenesis, signal transduction, and transcription. These results highlight the complexity of the bacterial response to stress. Notably, the distribution of DEGs among the replicons indicated that ECRs played a significant role in the stress response. The transcriptomic data align with the Rhizobium pangenome analysis, which revealed an over-representation of functional categories related to transport, metabolism, and regulatory functions on ECRs. These findings confirm that ECRs contribute substantially to the ability of rhizobia to adapt to challenging environmental conditions.

Genetic diversity of the major cat allergen, Fel d 1.

Cat allergy affects ∼15% of the US population and can cause severe symptoms, including asthma. The major cat allergen, Fel d 1, drives IgE antibody responses. We conducted a comparative analysis of Fel d 1 genes, CH1 and CH2, and investigated structural features of Fel d 1 homologs across the family Felidae. The CH1 and CH2 domestic cat DNA references were used to identify homologous sequences in domestic and exotic cat genomes. Variability of these sequences within or across cat species was analyzed. Comprehensive alignments of Fel d 1 sequences and homologs from 276 domestic or exotic cats identified >100 unique, dissimilar substitutions in the protein sequences across Felidae. Selective pressure analyses of 37 exotic cat species revealed that Fel d 1 experienced positive selection, or greater variability over time, in CH1 and CH2. Linear regression of the mean pairwise identities of Fel d 1 DNA or protein sequences indicated that the genes largely reflected the evolution of Felidae. The Fel d 1 genes are highly variable (41 and 58% of the amino acid residues encoded by CH1 and CH2, respectively), suggesting that the biological function of Fel d 1, which is currently unknown, may vary among cat species and/or that Fel d 1 may be nonessential for cats. This is supported by Fel d 1 homology to nonessential proteins and recent evidence of healthy cats with CRISPR-edited CH2 genes. Fel d 1 variability could confer an evolutionary advantage for cats by allowing the allergen to bind different physiological ligands.

A generic self-learning emotional framework for machines

In nature, intelligent living beings have developed emotions to modulate their behavior as a fundamental evolutionary advantage. However, researchers seeking to endow machines with this advantage lack a clear theory from cognitive neuroscience describing emotional elicitation from first principles, namely, from raw observations to specific affects. As a result, they often rely on case-specific solutions and arbitrary or hard-coded models that fail to generalize well to other agents and tasks. Here we propose that emotions correspond to distinct temporal patterns perceived in crucial values for living beings in their environment (like recent rewards, expected future rewards or anticipated world states) and introduce a fully self-learning emotional framework for Artificial Intelligence agents convincingly associating them with documented natural emotions. Applied in a case study, an artificial neural network trained on unlabeled agent’s experiences successfully learned and identified eight basic emotional patterns that are situationally coherent and reproduce natural emotional dynamics. Validation through an emotional attribution survey, where human observers rated their pleasure-arousal-dominance dimensions, showed high statistical agreement, distinguishability, and strong alignment with experimental psychology accounts. We believe that the framework’s generality and cross-disciplinary language defined, grounded on first principles from Reinforcement Learning, may lay the foundations for further research and applications, leading us toward emotional machines that think and act more like us.

Myxococcus xanthus fruiting body morphology is important for spore recovery after exposure to environmental stress.

Environmental microorganisms have evolved a variety of strategies to survive fluctuations in environmental conditions, including the production of biofilms and differentiation into spores. Myxococcus xanthus are ubiquitous soil bacteria that produce starvation-induced multicellular fruiting bodies filled with environmentally resistant spores (a specialized biofilm). Isolated spores have been shown to be more resistant than vegetative cells to heat, ultraviolet radiation, and desiccation. The evolutionary advantage of producing spores inside fruiting bodies is not clear. Here, we examine a hypothesis that the fruiting body provides additional protection from environmental insults. We developed a high-throughput method to compare the recovery (outgrowth) of distinct cell types (vegetative cells, free spores, and spores within intact fruiting bodies) after exposure to ultraviolet radiation or desiccation. Our data indicate that haystack-shaped fruiting bodies protect spores from extended UV radiation but do not provide additional protection from desiccation. Perturbation of fruiting body morphology strongly impedes recovery from both UV exposure and desiccation. These results hint that the distinctive fruiting bodies produced by different myxobacterial species may have evolved to optimize their persistence in distinct ecological niches.IMPORTANCEEnvironmental microorganisms play an important role in the production of greenhouse gases that contribute to changing climate conditions. It is imperative to understand how changing climate conditions feedback to influence environmental microbial communities. The myxobacteria are environmentally ubiquitous social bacteria that influence the local microbial community composition. Defining how these bacteria are affected by environmental insults is a necessary component of predicting climatic feedback effects. When starved, myxobacteria produce multicellular fruiting bodies filled with spores. As spores are resistant to a variety of environmental insults, the evolutionary advantage of building a fruiting body is not clear. Using the model myxobacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, we demonstrate that the tall, haystack-shaped fruiting body morphology enables significantly more resistance to UV exposure than the free spores. In contrast, fruiting bodies are slightly detrimental to recovery from extended desiccation, an effect that is strongly exaggerated if fruiting body morphology is perturbed. These results suggest that the variety of fruiting body morphologies observed in the myxobacteria may dictate their relative resistance to changing climate conditions.

Chimpanzees employ context-specific behavioral strategies within fission–fusion societies

Fission–fusion social systems allow individuals to make flexible choices about where, with whom, and in what contexts to spend their time in response to competing social and ecological pressures. The ability for fission–fusion societies to support individual behavioral strategies that vary across contexts has been suggested, but the potential function of such context-specific social choices remains largely understudied. We adopted the concept of social niche construction to explore possible differences in social complexity at the individual and group level across feeding contexts. Specifically, we examined patterns of co-attendance across two common ecological contexts in wild Central African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. From data compiled over 6 years, we used multidimensional social network analysis to study the patterns of co-attendance generated from 436 group scans at Ficus and 4527 visits to termite mounds. These two contexts were chosen, because they are both fixed spatial features across the landscape that serve as well-defined points to compare association patterns. We identified context-specific social niche construction in a fission–fusion chimpanzee society that produce different patterns of relationships and social complexity that are consistent in their expression over many years, and offer functional benefits. While enhancing our understanding of chimpanzee behavioral strategies, culture, and conservation, our investigation also indicates that the social niche construction framework aids in elucidating the evolutionary advantages of fission–fusion sociality by accounting for intra- and interindividual variability, cognition, and choice in newfound ways.

Mind-body medicine and altered states of consciousness in Homo

The mind-body relationship has long been a subject of inquiry from both philosophical and scientific perspectives. Ancient Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato posited dualistic models, where the mind and body are distinct substances. In contrast, modern approaches in Mind-Body Medicine (MBM) offer integrative models that emphasize the interconnectedness of mental and physical states and the proactive role of the patient in their own healing process. This review examines the evolutionary roots of altered states of consciousness (ASC) as a precursor to current MBM techniques. By tracing ASC to early hominins and their cognitive development, it posits that the ability to enter various ASC—such as those used in rituals, meditation, and other mind-body practices—provided evolutionary advantages, influencing both individual fitness and social cohesion. Moreover, this review discusses tonic immobility in animals as a survival mechanism and explores parallels in human and non-human primate behaviors involving ASC. Additionally, neurochemical pathways that govern ASC, such as serotonergic and dopaminergic regulation, are explored for their roles in promoting social behaviors, cognitive flexibility, and emotional regulation. Furthermore, the role of the default mode network is investigated in relation to psychotropic and mood altering substances and altered states of consciousness. This integrated perspective offers new insights into the origins of MBM and underscores the significance of ASC in both evolutionary and contemporary contexts.

Butyrate as a growth factor of Clostridium acetobutylicum

The butyrate biosynthetic pathway not only contributes to electron management and energy generation in butyrate forming bacteria, but also confers evolutionary advantages to the host by inhibiting the growth of surrounding butyrate-sensitive microbes. While high butyrate levels induce toxic stress, effects of non-toxic levels on cell growth, health, metabolism, and sporulation remain unclear. Here, we show that butyrate stimulates cellular processes of Clostridium acetobutylicum, a model butyrate forming Firmicute. First, we deleted the 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase gene (hbd) from the C. acetobutylicum chromosome to eliminate the butyrate synthetic pathway and thus butyrate formation. A xylose inducible Cas9 cassette was chromosomally integrated and utilized for the one-step markerless gene deletions. Non-toxic butyrate levels significantly affected growth, health, and sporulation of C. acetobutylicum. After deleting spo0A, the gene encoding the master regulator of sporulation, Spo0A, and conducting butyrate addition experiments, we conclude that butyrate affects cellular metabolism through both Spo0A-dependent and independent mechanisms. We also deleted the hbd gene from the chromosome of the asporogenous C. acetobutylicum M5 strain lacking the pSOL1 plasmid to examine the potential involvement of pSOL1 genes on the observed butyrate effects. Addition of crotonate, the precursor of butyrate biosynthesis, to the hbd deficient M5 strain was used to probe the role of butyrate biosynthesis pathway in electron and metabolic fluxes. Finally, we found that butyrate addition can enhance the growth of the non-butyrate forming Clostridium saccharolyticum. Our data suggest that butyrate functions as a stimulator of cellular processes, like a growth factor, in C. acetobutylicum and potentially evolutionarily related Clostridium organisms.

Beyond pain privacy and pain meters: a new vision for pain biomarkers.

To an individual, pain is unambiguously real. To a caregiver, assessing pain in others is a challenging process shrouded in doubt. To explain this challenge, many assume that pain "belongs" exclusively to the bearer of that experience and accept the dogma that pain is private. However, privacy also entails that it is not possible to identify, share, or communicate that experience with others. Obviously, this is not true and the consequences of pain privacy would be devastating for healthcare. Pain is indeed unique and subjective, but not necessarily private. Pain is in fact readily communicable, though perhaps not as effectively and reliably as caregivers would like. On the other hand, healthcare systems mandate objective metrics in pain diagnosis. Smiley face caricatures are a staple of clinical practice and a universal standard for reporting pain levels. These conditions create a double paradox: Assess a private experience that is inaccessible, and use numerical scales to measure subjective attributes. Navigating this stressful environment, medical professionals experience intellectual dissonance, patients are frustrated, and value-based care is undermined. Offering a way out, first, we refute the privacy and objectification of pain citing philosophical, behavioral, and neuroscientific arguments. We discuss Wittgensteinian views against privacy, explore the clear evolutionary advantage of communicating pain to others, and identify neural circuits in the mammalian brain that contribute to empathy. Second, we highlight the subjectivity of pain, embracing the complexity and uniqueness of an individual's pain. We also provide compelling evidence for brain mechanisms that actively shape the pain experience according to predictive coding principles. Third, we offer a vision for the development of biomarker technologies that assess pain fairly without engendering bias against the patient's narrative. Our recommendations are based on the overwhelming appreciation that "medicine by emoji" is inadequate for capturing the multidimensional nature of pain. Our view is that the most promising candidates for pain biomarkers consist of self-reports as ground truth augmented by physiological signatures of biological relevance to pain. Integration of subjective and objective multimodal features will be key for the development of comprehensive pain assessment models.

Effects of Anxiety and Chronotype on Sleep Quality: Advantages of Evening Chronotype in the Post-Pandemic Era

Objective: Prior to the pandemic, all scientific evidence suggested that the evening chronotype is a risk factor for mental pathologies, while the morning chronotype is a protective factor. However, by exploring the effects of anxiety and chronotype on sleep quality in a post-pandemic, segmented by age, new evidence is presented that contradicts the traditional ones.Methods: This quantitative, exploratory, cross-sectional study included 2,253 participants, segmented into three age categories: <18 years, 18–23 years, and >23 years. Linear regression coefficients were calculated using weighted least squares, with a confidence level of 95% or greater (p<0.05) applied in all cases.Results: The highest levels of anxiety were found in men. In all cases, significant correlation and variance were found in sleep quality with respect to age and anxiety. The increase in poor sleep quality is explained by between 1.8% and 1.9% in subjects with anxiety and morning chronotype as age advances in post-pandemic.Conclusion: Anxiety, chronotype, and age significantly affect sleep quality. In the context of a pandemic, older subjects with a morning chronotype experience worse sleep quality. Specifically, under conditions of confinement and social isolation during a pandemic, morning chronotypes tend to have worse sleep quality compared to evening chronotypes, who may have an adaptive evolutionary advantage in such circumstances.

Lateralization of activation within the superior temporal gyrus during speech perception in sleeping infants is associated with subsequent language skills in kindergarten: A passive listening task-fMRI study

Brain asymmetries are hypothesized to reduce functional duplication and thus have evolutionary advantages. The goal of this study was to examine whether early brain lateralization contributes to skill development within the speech-language domain. To achieve this goal, 25 infants (2–13 months old) underwent behavioral language examination and fMRI during sleep while listening to forward and backward speech, and then were assessed on various language skills at 55–69 months old. We observed that infant functional lateralization of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) for forward > backward speech was associated with phonological, vocabulary, and expressive language skills 4 to 5 years later. However, we failed to observe that infant language skills or the anatomical lateralization of STG were related to subsequent language skills. Overall, our findings suggest that infant functional lateralization of STG for speech perception may scaffold subsequent language acquisition, supporting the hypothesis that functional hemisphere asymmetries are advantageous.

An investigation testing the perceptual advantage of Sensory Processing Sensitivity and its associations with the Big Five personality traits

This study investigated whether sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is associated with a perceptual advantage, rather than just heightened brain, emotional and behavioural reactivity. Participants (N = 222) were tested on detection and identification of visually degraded words at three levels of difficulty, and completed the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) and the Big Five Inventory. The positive subscale of the HSPS predicted both the detection and identification of visually degraded stimuli, and beyond the Big Five traits. This contradicts claims that SPS is solely a combination of Big Five traits. Importantly, the perceptual advantage for highly sensitives may balance the disadvantages of being easily overwhelmed by stimuli and indicates separate evolutionary advantages and strategies for high and low SPS humans and other mammals.

Upregulation of key factors of viral entry of corona- and influenza viruses upon TLR3-signaling in cells from the respiratory tract and clinical treatment options by 1,8-Cineol.

At the end of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), highly contagious variants of coronaviruses had emerged. Together with influenza viruses, different variants of the coronavirus currently cause most colds and require appropriate drug treatment. We have investigated the expression of important factors for the replication of these viruses, namely transmembrane protease serine subtype 2 (TMPRSS2), neuropilin1 (NRP1), and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) after toll like receptor-3 (TLR-3) stimulation using RT-qPCR and flow cytometry (FC) analysis. As model served primary fibroblasts derived from the lung and nasal cavity, as well as epidermal stem cells and fully matured respiratory epithelium. The stimulated cell cultures were treated with pharmaceuticals (Dexamethasone and Enzalutamide) and the outcome was compared with the phytomedicine 1,8-Cineol. The stimulation of TLR3 is sufficient to induce the expression of exactly those targets that were highly expressed in the corresponding culture type, specifically ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in respiratory epithelial stem cells and NRP1 in fibroblast cells. It seems this self-perpetuating cycle of infection-driven upregulation of key viral replication factors by the innate immune system represents an evolutionary advantage for viruses using these transcripts as viral replication factors. Likewise, to the standard pharmaceuticals with proven clinical efficiency, 1,8-Cineol was able to disrupt this self-perpetuating cycle. Considering the minor side effects and negligible pharmacological interactions with other drugs, it is conceivable that an adjuvant or combinatorial therapy with 1,8-Cineol for respiratory diseases caused by corona- or influenza viruses would be beneficial.

Confounding Fuels Misinterpretation in Human Genetics.

The scientific literature has seen a resurgence of interest in genetic influences on human behavior and socioeconomic outcomes. Such studies face the central difficulty of distinguishing possible causal influences, in particular genetic and non-genetic ones. When confounding between possible influences is not rigorously addressed, it invites over- and misinterpretation of data. We illustrate the breadth of this problem through a discussion of the literature and a reanalysis of two examples. Clark (2023) suggested that patterns of similarity in social status between relatives indicate that social status is largely determined by one's DNA. We show that the paper's conclusions are based on the conflation of genetic and non-genetic transmission, such as wealth, within families. Song & Zhang (2024) posited that genetic variants underlying bisexual behavior are maintained in the population because they also affect risk-taking behavior, thereby conferring an evolutionary fitness advantage through increased sexual promiscuity. In this case, too, we show that possible explanations cannot be distinguished, but only one is chosen and presented as a conclusion. We discuss how issues of confounding apply more broadly to studies that claim to establish genetic underpinnings to human behavior and societal outcomes.

Event-related potentials and behavioral correlates of emotional recognition memory in late pregnancy.

Research on cognitive and emotional functions during pregnancy challenges the prevalent perception of cognitive decline in pregnant women. This study investigates the behavioral and neural dynamics of cognitive-affective processing in third-trimester pregnant women, comparing them with non-pregnant controls. Using a 64-channel EEG-ERP system, we recorded brain activity as participants engaged in an emotional word recognition task. This task involved initially viewing a sequence of emotional and neutral words, followed by a recognition test where participants identified each word as 'new' or 'previously seen'. Contrary to widespread beliefs about diminished recognition ability during late pregnancy, our results revealed no significant differences in error rates between groups. However, pregnant participants demonstrated slower reaction times. In terms of neural responses, pregnant women exhibited increased amplitudes in the N1, P2, and N400 ERP components, suggesting that they may require additional brain resources compared with non-pregnant individuals to process perceptual information. A significant interaction was observed between pregnancy status and the emotional valence of stimuli. Pregnant women showed heightened N1 and N400 responses to negative words, indicating increased sensitivity to stimuli potentially representing threat. This enhanced response was not observed for positive or neutral words. Furthermore, there was an amplified N1 response to 'new' words, but not to 'old' words. These findings suggest that late pregnancy is characterized by heightened responsiveness to new and particularly negative stimuli, potentially leading to a more cautious behavioral approach. Heightened vigilance and sensitivity could offer evolutionary advantages, optimizing fetal development and enhancing maternal well-being.

Search for neurophysiological mechanisms of configurational learning

Configural learning is a form of associative learning in which the conditioned stimulus is a holistic set of stimulus elements rather than individual stimuli or their isolated properties. Successfully solving the task of such associative learning requires a holistic analysis of the entire configuration as a whole. The ability to analyze not only individual physical aspects of a stimulus or single objects in a visual scene, but also their holistic combinations, offers significant evolutionary advantages, as configurations often have substantially greater predictive power compared to individual stimulus elements or features. Moreover, the ability to holistically analyze combinations of stimulus field elements or features can be considered an initial, primitive manifestation of consciousness. In the present review, we consider the history of the development of the concept of configural learning, the main methodological avenues of investigation, and currently available neurophysiological data on the putative neural basis of this phenomenon. We find it most interesting to study the processes of configural learning in humans using modern neuroimaging methods, as they provide a glimpse into the holistic brain functioning. Finally, we consider the future tasks aimed to provide a more complete understanding of the neurophysiology of the configural learning phenomenon.

Understanding and Combating Misinformation: An Evolutionary Perspective.

Misinformation represents an evolutionary paradox: despite its harmful impact on society, it persists and evolves, thriving in the information-rich environment of the digital age. This paradox challenges the conventional expectation that detrimental entities should diminish over time. The persistence of misinformation, despite advancements in fact-checking and verification tools, suggests that it possesses adaptive qualities that enable it to survive and propagate. This paper explores how misinformation, as a blend of truth and fiction, continues to resonate with audiences. The role of narratives in human history, particularly in the evolution of Homo narrans, underscores the enduring influence of storytelling on cultural and social cohesion. Despite the increasing ability of individuals to verify the accuracy of sources, misinformation remains a significant challenge, often spreading rapidly through digital platforms. Current behavioral research tends to treat misinformation as completely irrrational, static, finite entities that can be definitively debunked, overlooking their dynamic and evolving nature. This approach limits our understanding of the behavioral and societal factors driving the transformation of misinformation over time. The persistence of misinformation can be attributed to several factors, including its role in fostering social cohesion, its perceived short-term benefits, and its use in strategic deception. Techniques such as extrapolation, intrapolation, deformation, cherry-picking, and fabrication contribute to the production and spread of misinformation. Understanding these processes and the evolutionary advantages they confer is crucial for developing effective strategies to counter misinformation. By promoting transparency, critical thinking, and accurate information, society can begin to address the root causes of misinformation and create a more resilient information environment.

The key role of iroBCDN-lacking pLVPK-like plasmid in the evolution of the most prevalent hypervirulent carbapenem-resistant ST11-KL64 Klebsiella pneumoniae in China

AimsHypervirulent carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (hv-CRKP), coharboring hypervirulence and carbapenem-resistance genes mediated by plasmids, causes infections with extremely high mortality and seriously impacts public health. Exploring the transfer mechanisms of virulence/carbapenem-resistance plasmids, as well as the formation and evolution pathway of hv-CRKP is of great significance to the control of hv-CRKP infections. MethodsIn this study, we identified the predominant clone of hv-CRKP in China and elucidated its genomic characteristics and formation route based on 239 multicenter clinical K. pneumoniae isolates and 1014 GenBank genomes by using comparative genomic analysis. Further, we revealed the factors affecting the transfer of virulence plasmids, and explained the genetic foundation for the prevalence of Chinese predominant hv-CRKP clone. ResultsST11-KL64 is the predominant clone of hv-CRKP in China and primarily evolved from ST11-KL64 CRKP by acquiring the pLVPK-like virulence plasmid from hvKP. Significantly, the virulence gene cluster iroBCDN was lost in the virulence plasmid of ST11-KL64 hv-CRKP but existed in that of hvKP. Moreover, the absence of iroBCDN didn’t decrease the virulence of hv-CRKP, which was proved by bacterial test, cell-interaction test and mice infection model. On the contrary, loss of iroBCDN was observed to regulate virulence/carbapenem-resistance plasmid transfer and oxidative stress-related genes in strains and thus promoted the mobilization of nonconjugative virulence plasmid from hvKP into ST11-KL64 CRKP, forming hv-CRKP which finally had elevated antioxidant capacity and enhanced survival capacity in macrophages. The loss of iroBCDN increased the survival ability of hv-CRKP without decreasing its virulence, endowing it with an evolutionary advantage. ConclusionsOur work provides new insights into the key role of iroBCDN loss in convergence of CRKP and hvKP, and the genetic and biological foundation for the widespread prevalence of ST11-KL64 hv-CRKP in China.