1: Discuss how the concept of horizontal gene transfer relates to bacteria. Include the following in your discussion:
bacterial mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer and how they differ from normal inheritance
the importance of horizontal gene transfer to the treatment of bacterial infections
the effects this concept has on evolutionary relationships inside and outside the bacterial domain
bacterial mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer and how they differ from normal inheritance
the importance of horizontal gene transfer to the treatment of bacterial infections
the effects this concept has on evolutionary relationships inside and outside the bacterial domain
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I'll keep this a bit sketchy:
Mechanisms are Transformation (with DNA pieces from the environment), Conjugation (from one cell to another through a sex pillus like the f pillus) and transduction (where a bacteriphage moves bacterial genetic material from one to another cell).
http://www.suite101.com/content/bacteria…
Obviously since bacteria do not reproduce sexually it is much harder for a beneficially gene to spread quickly through a population. One way is for all bacteria not carrying the gene to die and be replaced by those how have it. But bacteria use horizontal transfer of genes to spread the gene more effectively, allowing for a greater variet of genes to be preserved. On type of gene that is spread frequently are antibiotic resistance genes. This can cause great problems so that penicillin is largly ineffective against bacteria today and some bacteria are multi-drug resistent (MRSA, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, etc).
As for relationships: If bacterial cells are do not develope slowly over time with gradual changes but additioally have a mix and match situation where they gain 8sometimes very large) portions of forgein DNA it can be hard to reconstruct the relationships between bacteria. i am struggeling with specific examples here but Neisseria meningitidis (causes meningitis, who would have guessed) is a bacterium that has gained significant portions of its genome from other organisms, potentially including humans genes.
Good luck :)
Mechanisms are Transformation (with DNA pieces from the environment), Conjugation (from one cell to another through a sex pillus like the f pillus) and transduction (where a bacteriphage moves bacterial genetic material from one to another cell).
http://www.suite101.com/content/bacteria…
Obviously since bacteria do not reproduce sexually it is much harder for a beneficially gene to spread quickly through a population. One way is for all bacteria not carrying the gene to die and be replaced by those how have it. But bacteria use horizontal transfer of genes to spread the gene more effectively, allowing for a greater variet of genes to be preserved. On type of gene that is spread frequently are antibiotic resistance genes. This can cause great problems so that penicillin is largly ineffective against bacteria today and some bacteria are multi-drug resistent (MRSA, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, etc).
As for relationships: If bacterial cells are do not develope slowly over time with gradual changes but additioally have a mix and match situation where they gain 8sometimes very large) portions of forgein DNA it can be hard to reconstruct the relationships between bacteria. i am struggeling with specific examples here but Neisseria meningitidis (causes meningitis, who would have guessed) is a bacterium that has gained significant portions of its genome from other organisms, potentially including humans genes.
Good luck :)
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