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What is transformation in molecular biology?
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What is transformation in bacteriology?
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Transformation, in biology, one of several processes by which genetic material in the form of “naked” deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is transferred between microbial cells. Its discovery and elucidation constitutes one of the significant cornerstones of molecular genetics.
- Overview
- Key points:
- Introduction
- Transformation
- Transduction
- Conjugation
- Transposable elements
- Conclusion
- Check your understanding
Mechanisms that generate variation in prokaryote populations. Transduction, transformation, conjugation, transposable elements.
•In transformation, a bacterium takes up a piece of DNA floating in its environment.
•In transduction, DNA is accidentally moved from one bacterium to another by a virus.
•In conjugation, DNA is transferred between bacteria through a tube between cells.
•In transformation, a bacterium takes up a piece of DNA floating in its environment.
•In transduction, DNA is accidentally moved from one bacterium to another by a virus.
•In conjugation, DNA is transferred between bacteria through a tube between cells.
•Transposable elements are chunks of DNA that "jump" from one place to another. They can move bacterial genes that give bacteria antibiotic resistance or make them disease-causing.
When you hear the word "clone," what do you think of? Maybe Dolly the sheep, or experiments carried out in molecular biology labs. But it's also true that the bacteria around you—on your skin, in your gut, growing on your kitchen sink—are "cloning" themselves all the time!
Bacteria reproduce by splitting in two via binary fission. Binary fission makes clones, or genetically identical copies, of the parent bacterium. Since the "child" bacteria are genetically identical to the parent, binary fission doesn't provide an opportunity for genetic recombination or genetic diversity (aside from the occasional random mutation). This contrasts with sexual reproduction.
In transformation, a bacterium takes in DNA from its environment, often DNA that's been shed by other bacteria. In a laboratory, the DNA may be introduced by scientists (see biotechnology article). If the DNA is in the form of a circular DNA called a plasmid, it can be copied in the receiving cell and passed on to its descendants.
Why would this be important? Imagine that a harmless bacterium takes up DNA for a toxin gene from a pathogenic (disease-causing) species of bacterium. If the receiving cell incorporates the new DNA into its own chromosome (which can happen by a process called homologous recombination), it too may become pathogenic.
In transduction, viruses that infect bacteria move short pieces of chromosomal DNA from one bacterium to another "by accident."
Yep, even bacteria can get a virus! The viruses that infect bacteria are called bacteriophages. Bacteriophages, like other viruses, are the pirates of the biological world—they commandeer a cell's resources and use them to make more bacteriophages.
However, this process can be a little sloppy. Sometimes, chunks of host cell DNA get caught inside the new bacteriophage as they are made. When one of these "defective" bacteriophages infects a cell, it transfers the DNA. Some bacteriophages chop the DNA of their host cell into pieces, making this transfer process more likely1 .
Archaea, the other group of prokaryotes besides bacteria, are not infected by bacteriophages but have their own viruses that move genetic material from one individual to another.
In conjugation, DNA is transferred from one bacterium to another. After the donor cell pulls itself close to the recipient using a structure called a pilus, DNA is transferred between cells. In most cases, this DNA is in the form of a plasmid.
Donor cells typically act as donors because they have a chunk of DNA called the fertility factor (or F factor). This chunk of DNA codes for the proteins that make up the sex pilus. It also contains a special site where DNA transfer during conjugation begins2 .
Transposable elements are also important in bacterial genetics3 . These chunks of DNA "jump" from one place to another within a genome, cutting and pasting themselves or inserting copies of themselves in new spots. Transposable elements are found in many organisms (including you and me!), not just in bacteria.
In bacteria, transposable elements sometimes carry antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity genes (genes that make bacteria disease-causing)4,5,6 . If one of these transposable elements "jumps" from the chromosome into a plasmid, the genes it carries can be easily passed to other bacteria by transformation or conjugation. That means the genes can spread quickly through the population.
In bacteria, reproduction can be very fast, with a generation taking little more than a few minutes for some species. This short generation time, together with random mutations and the mechanisms of genetic recombination we saw in this article, allow bacteria (and other prokaryotes) to evolve very quickly.
Is that a good thing? It depends on your perspective. Rapid evolution means that bacteria can adapt to environmental changes, such as the introduction of an antibiotic, very quickly. That's good for them—but bad for us, when we are the ones with the infection!
[More about how antibiotic resistance can evolve]
[Attribution and references]
In molecular biology and genetics, transformation is the genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the direct uptake and incorporation of exogenous genetic material from its surroundings through the cell membrane (s).
In molecular biology, transformation is genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the direct uptake, incorporation and expression of exogenous genetic material (exogenous DNA) from its surroundings and taken up through the cell membrane(s). Transformation: Illustration of bacterial transformation. DNA from dead cells gets cut into fragments ...
Transformation is a key step in DNA cloning. It occurs after restriction digest and ligation and transfers newly made plasmids to bacteria. After transformation, bacteria are selected on antibiotic plates. Bacteria with a plasmid are antibiotic-resistant, and each one will form a colony.
- How are the proteins bound to the antibodies, in the affinity chromatography, released? And how are ...When you use the chromatography, you (always) need to use several buffers each with different salt concentrations to purify the protein. The protei...
- How does transformation ensure that a bacteria will get only one plasmid?Good question. For a typical transformation (e.g. an insert ligated into a vector) you would have something on the order of 10⁹ to 10¹⁰ DNA molecul...
- Can we use Calcium chloride in Solution to make bacteria more permeable instead of Heat Shock?There are certainly different methods of DNA sample preparation, and calcium chloride is one of them! Depending on the type of bacteria you use and...
- How can bacterial transformation can be used in the field of science? What are some real-life applic...Real-life application is for the needs of the Biotechnology industry and research. Whenever you need to develop new drug treatment, to test antibio...
- How can reporter genes be used to separate bacteria who have taken up the transformed plasmid from t...That's why reporter genes exist - usually, antibiotic-resistant genes are used as markers (such as Tet - resistance to Tetracycline). IN that case,...
- DNA lygase requires ATP but we ant providing any ATP in ligation reaction. then how it works??Correct, the DNA ligation reaction requires ATP. A typical ligation reaction involves incubating the *plasmid*, *DNA fragment* of interest and *DNA...
- What sequence will be inserted into bacteria and where did it come from?Bacterial insertion sequences have varied etiology. It may come from that bacterial cell or phage lambda. Insertion sequences may change their posi...
- Why cant bacterial plasmid vectors be used to transform plant cells?Well, they can...but it depends what kind of bacteria and what kind of plasmid. To transform a plant cell, you'd want a plasmid vector that could b...
- Wouldn't it be hard to find a restriction enzyme for a particular gene of interest because the desir...First, most vectors will have a region known as the "Multiple Cloning Site" (MCS) that can be cut with many different restriction enzymes† — this g...
- Wont some of the bacteria that didnt take up the recombinant plasmid have their own plasmids that ha...Good question! It could be difficult to know if you were just using a random bacteria isolated from nature — especially since there are likely to b...
Transformation is a process by which foreign genetic material is taken up by a cell. The process results in a stable genetic change within the transformed cell.
Feb 10, 2014 · Transformation is defined as the uptake of foreign DNA as single strands and its subsequent integration into the bacterial chromosome by homologous recombination....
