Plasmid Genomic Dynamics and One Health: Drivers of Antibiotic Resistance and Pathogenicity

Seen through a One Health perspective, plasmids act as global links, connecting human, animal, and environmental microbiomes while broadening the ecological scope of resistance and virulence. By combining knowledge about plasmid classification, mobility, resistance, virulence, and data sources, this review emphasizes their key role as drivers of bacterial evolution and worldwide health risks. Recognizing plasmids as connectors across microbiomes highlights both the urgency and opportunity to address plasmid-mediated resistance with integrated strategies. Current plasmid databases, such as NCBI RefSeq, PLSDB, IMG/PR, and PlasmidScope, have already greatly advanced our understanding of these connections, and they are likely to profoundly alter how we see plasmid biology and One Health relationships.