Parallel compensatory evolution stabilizes plasmids across the parasitism-mutualism continuum.

Abstract excerpt

Plasmids drive genomic diversity in bacteria via horizontal gene transfer [1, 2]; nevertheless, explaining their survival in bacterial populations is challenging [3]. Theory predicts that irrespective of their net fitness effects, plasmids should be lost: when parasitic (costs outweigh benefits), plasmids should decline due to purifying selection [4-6], yet under mutualism (benefits outweigh costs), selection...

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