Natural transformation is a process whereby bacteria actively take up DNA from the surrounding environment and incorporate it into their genome. Natural transformation is widespread in bacteria, but its evolutionary significance is still debated. Here, we hypothesize that transformation may confer a fitness advantage in changing environments through a process we term 'genetic time travel': by t...

agrobacterium tumefaciens is capable to transfer genes across kingdoms. it can genetically transform not only plant cells, but also many other bacterial, algal, fungal, animal and human cells. this depends on the interactions among a variety of both agrobacterium and host genes. inside the host cell, rad52 which is involved in dna repair is a key gene determining integration of t-dna by homolog...

Transformation and conjugation permit the passage of DNA through the bacterial membranes and represent dominant modes for the transfer of genetic information between bacterial cells or between bacterial and eukaryotic cells. As such, they are responsible for the spread of fitness-enhancing traits, including antibiotic resistance. Both processes usually involve the recognition of double-stranded...

1. Further observations on the conditions under which transformation of pneumococcal types may be induced by in vitro procedures are presented. 2. R cultures possessing only slight degrees of R stability are most suitable for transformation purposes by in vitro procedures. 3. Vaccines prepared from cultures subjected to the action of bacterial enzymes liberated (a) in old broth cultures, (b) du...

Micro-Tom is the smallest known variety of tomatoes. An orthogonal experimental design L(16) (4(5)) was used to optimize Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cotyledon explants of Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Micro-Tom. Four parameters were investigated to determine their effect on transformation frequency: the concentration of bacterial suspension, time of dip in bacterial suspension, ...

To provide estimates of horizontal gene transfer from transgenic crops to indigenous soil bacteria, transformation frequencies were obtained for naturally transformable Acinetobacter baylyi BD413 using a chromosomally integrated plant transgene. The transgene comprised sequences for two phenotypic markers: kanamycin resistance (npt II) and green fluorescent protein (gfp), expressed from their o...