The Integron: Adaptation on demand

Integrons are mainly known as the genetic agents responsible for the capture and spread of antibiotic resistance determinants among Gram-negative pathogens. They are also found in the genomes of hundreds of environmental bacterial species. These chromosomal integrons are the sources of both the antibiotics resistance cassettes and the integron platforms that convey these cassettes among bacterial pathogens. I will present how their unique recombination mechanisms and their connection to the SOS response and to the horizontal gene transfer mechanisms, sponsors integrons as integrated adaptive systems for these Gram negative bacteria, in time of stress.