The integron is a genetic element that incorporates mobile genes termed gene cassettes into a reserved genetic site via site-specific recombination. It is best known for its role in antibiotic resistance with one type of integron, the class 1 integron, a major player in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes across Gram negative pathogens and commensals. However, integrons are ancient structures with over 100 classes (including class 1) present in bacteria from the broader environment. While, the class 1 integron is only one example of an integron being mobilized into the clinical environment, it is by far the most successful. Unlike clinical class 1 integrons which are largely found on plasmids, other integron classes are found on the chromosomes of bacteria and carry diverse gene cassettes indicating a non-antibiotic resistance role(s). However, there is very limited knowledge on what these alternative roles are. This is particularly relevant to Vibrio species where gene cassettes make up approximately 1-3% of their entire genome. In this review, we discuss how emphasis on class 1 integron research has resulted in a limited understanding by the wider research community on the role of integrons in the broader environment. This has the capacity to be counterproductive in solving or improving the antibiotic resistance problem into the future. Furthermore, there is still a significant lack of knowledge on how gene cassettes in Vibrio species drive adaptation and evolution. From research in Vibrio rotiferianus DAT722, new insight into how gene cassettes affect cellular physiology offers new alternative roles for the gene cassette resource. At least a subset of gene cassettes are involved in host surface polysaccharide modification suggesting that gene cassettes may be important in processes such as bacteriophage resistance, adhesion/biofilm formation, protection from grazers and bacterial aggregation.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 April 2023.
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#6,379,981
of 23,539,593 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Microbiology
#6,218
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Outputs of similar age
#66,674
of 284,770 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Microbiology
#90
of 406 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,539,593 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 26,013 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.4. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 406 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 77% of its contemporaries.
