Bacterial conjugation has medical consequences. For example, certain plasmids contain genes that code for toxins. The causative agent of a deadly form of food poisoning, E. coli 0157, synthesizes a toxin that causes massive bloody diarrhea and kidney failure. This toxin is now believed to have originated in Shigella, another bacterium that causes dysentery. Similarly, the growing problem of antibiotic resistance is partly attributable to the spread of antibioticresistant genes among bacterial populations. Antibiotic resistance develops because antibiotics are overused in medical practice and in livestock feeds. Suggest a mechanism by which this extensive use promotes antibiotic resistance.
Genetic Recombination
Recombination is crucial to this process because it allows genes to be reassorted into diverse combinations. Genetic recombination is the process of combining genetic components from two different origins into a single unit. In prokaryotes, genetic recombination takes place by the unilateral transfer of deoxyribonucleic acid. It includes transduction, transformation, and conjugation. The genetic exchange occurring between homologous deoxyribonucleic acid sequences (DNA) from two different sources is termed general recombination. For this to happen, an identical sequence of the two recombining molecules is required. The process of genetic exchange which occurs in eukaryotes during sexual reproduction such as meiosis is an example of this type of genetic recombination.
Microbial Genetics
Genes are the functional units of heredity. They transfer characteristic information from parents to the offspring.
Bacterial conjugation has medical consequences. For example, certain plasmids contain genes
that code for toxins. The causative agent of a deadly form of food poisoning, E. coli 0157,
synthesizes a toxin that causes massive bloody diarrhea and kidney failure. This toxin is now
believed to have originated in Shigella, another bacterium that causes dysentery. Similarly, the
growing problem of antibiotic resistance is partly attributable to the spread of antibioticresistant genes among bacterial populations. Antibiotic resistance develops because antibiotics
are overused in medical practice and in livestock feeds. Suggest a mechanism by which this
extensive use promotes antibiotic resistance.
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