Direct Visualization of Horizontal Gene Transfer

@article{citeulike:2530769, abstract = {Conjugation allows bacteria to acquire genes for antibiotic resistance, novel virulence attributes, and alternative metabolic pathways. Using a fluorescent protein fusion, SeqA-YFP, we have visualized this process in real time and in single cells of Escherichia coli. We found that the F pilus mediates DNA transfer at considerable cell-to-cell distances. Integration of transferred DNA by recombination occurred in up to 96\% of recipients; in the remaining cells, the transferred DNA was fully degraded by the RecBCD helicase/nuclease. The acquired integrated DNA was tracked through successive replication rounds and was found to occasionally split and segregate with different chromosomes, leading to the inheritance of different gene clusters within the cell lineage. The incidence of DNA splitting corresponds to about one crossover per cell generation. 10.1126/science.1153498}, author = {Babic, Ana and Lindner, Ariel B. and Vulic, Marin and Stewart, Eric J. and Radman, Miroslav }, citeulike-article-id = {2530769}, doi = {10.1126/science.1153498}, journal = {Science}, keywords = {evolution, horizontal-gene-transfer}, month = {March}, number = {5869}, pages = {1533--1536}, posted-at = {2008-04-22 10:23:58}, priority = {2}, title = {Direct Visualization of Horizontal Gene Transfer}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153498}, volume = {319}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2530769 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2530769 TI - Direct Visualization of Horizontal Gene Transfer JF - Science VL - 319 IS - 5869 SP - 1533 EP - 1536 N2 - Conjugation allows bacteria to acquire genes for antibiotic resistance, novel virulence attributes, and alternative metabolic pathways. Using a fluorescent protein fusion, SeqA-YFP, we have visualized this process in real time and in single cells of Escherichia coli. We found that the F pilus mediates DNA transfer at considerable cell-to-cell distances. Integration of transferred DNA by recombination occurred in up to 96% of recipients; in the remaining cells, the transferred DNA was fully degraded by the RecBCD helicase/nuclease. The acquired integrated DNA was tracked through successive replication rounds and was found to occasionally split and segregate with different chromosomes, leading to the inheritance of different gene clusters within the cell lineage. The incidence of DNA splitting corresponds to about one crossover per cell generation. 10.1126/science.1153498 KW - evolution KW - horizontal-gene-transfer AU - Babic, Ana AU - Lindner, Ariel AU - Vulic, Marin AU - Stewart, Eric AU - Radman, Miroslav PY - 2008/03/14/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153498 ER -