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Module 3.1 · Topic 5
Module 3.1 · Topic 5
Three ways genetic information moves sideways
Bacteria don't have sex, but they still swap genes with each other in at least three structurally different ways. One of them doesn't even require another living bacterium to be involved at all — DNA released from a cell that's already dead is still usable.
A bacterium picks up a gene from naked, free-floating DNA released by a cell that died and lysed nearby — no living donor bacterium involved at any point. Is this actually one of the recognised mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer?
Which of the three bacterial gene transfer mechanisms does NOT require a living donor bacterium at any point?
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