| Bacterial Conjugation Softcover Repri Edition Contributor(s): Clewell, D. B. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0306443767 ISBN-13: 9780306443763 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $208.99 Product Type: Paperback Published: May 1993 Annotation: This timely volume reviews the molecular mechanisms and regulation aspects of conjugation in a variety of bacterial systems. An international group of contributors examine the movement of plasmids and conjugative transposons across species and kingdom barriers, and discuss the significance of the transfer phenomenon from clinical, environmental, and industrial perspectives. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Medical | Microbiology - Medical | Genetics - Science | Life Sciences - Botany |
| Dewey: 589.901 |
| LCCN: 93007458 |
| Series: Defense Research Series; 4 |
| Physical Information: 0.88" H x 7" W x 10" (1.64 lbs) 413 pages |
| Themes: - Topical - Ecology |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Bacterial plasmids originating in a wide range of genera are being studied from a variety of perspectives in hundreds of laboratories around the globe. These elements are well known for carrying "special" genes that confer important survival properties, frequently neces- sary under atypical conditions. Classic examples of plasmid-borne genes are those provid- ing bacterial resistance to toxic substances such as antibiotics, metal ions, and bacte- riophage. Often included are those determining bacteriocins, which may give the bacterium an advantage in a highly competitive environment. Genes offering metabolic alternatives to the cell under nutritionally stressed conditions are also commonly found on plasmids, as are determinants important to colonization and pathogenesis. It is likely that in many, if not most, cases plasmids and their passenger determinants represent DNA acquired recently by their bacterial hosts, and it is the characteristic mobility of these elements that enables their efficient establishment in new bacterial cells by the process known as conjugation. Whereas many plasmids are fully capable of promoting their own conjugal transfer, others move only with help from coresident elements. The ability of a plasmid to establish itself in a variety of different species is com- mon, and recent studies have shown that transfer can in some cases occur from bacterial cells to eukaryotes such as yeast. |