Summary Although plasmids play an important role in biological evolution, the number of plasmid families well‐characterized in terms of geographical distribution and evolution remains limited, especially in archaea. Here, we describe the first systematic study of an archaeal plasmid family, the pT26‐2 plasmid family. The in‐depth analysis of the distribution, biogeography and host–plasmid co‐evolution patterns of 26 integrated...

Summary Cells from the three domains of life produce extracellular membrane vesicles ( MVs ), suggesting that MV production is a fundamental aspect of cellular physiology. We have recently shown that MVs produced by the hyperthermophilic archaeon T hermococcus kodakaraensis can be used as vehicles to transfer exogenous recombinant plasmid DNA from cell to cell. Here, we show that T hermococcus nautilus , which harbours three p...