DNA transfer
Why is gene transfer important in antibiotic resistance?
Bacteria
Some bacteria also transfer genetic material between cells. This can occur in three main ways. First, bacteria can take up exogenous DNA from their environment, in a process called transformation. Genes can also be transferred by the process of transduction, when the integration of a bacteriophage introduces foreign DNA into the chromosome. The third method of gene transfer is conjugation, whereby DNA is transferred through direct cell contact. Transduction of bacterial genes by bacteriophage appears to be a consequence of infrequent errors during intracellular assembly of virus particles, rather than a bacterial adaptation. Conjugation, in the much-studied E. coli system is determined by plasmid genes, and is an adaptation for transferring copies of the plasmid from one bacterial host to another. It is seldom that a conjugative plasmid integrates into the host bacterial chromosome, and subsequently transfers part of the host bacterial DNA to another bacterium. Plasmid-mediated transfer of host bacterial DNA also appears to be an accidental process rather than a bacterial adaptation. Transformation, unlike transduction or conjugation, depends on numerous bacterial gene products that specifically interact to perform this complex process, and thus transformation is clearly a bacterial adaptation for DNA transfer. In order for a bacterium to bind, take up and recombine donor DNA into its own chromosome, it must first enter a special physiological state termed competence (see Natural competence). In "Bacillus subtilis" about 40 genes are required for the development of competence. The length of DNA transferred during "B. subtilis" transformation can be between a third of a chromosome up to the whole chromosome. Transformation appears to be common among bacterial species, and thus far at least 60 species are known to have the natural ability to become competent for transformation. The development of competence in nature is usually associated with stressful environmental conditions, and seems to be an adaptation for facilitating repair of DNA damage in recipient cells. In ordinary circumstances, transduction, conjugation, and transformation involve transfer of DNA between individual bacteria of the same species, but occasionally transfer may occur between individuals of different bacterial species and this may have significant consequences, such as the transfer of antibiotic resistance. In such cases, gene acquisition from other bacteria or the environment is called horizontal gene transfer and may be common under natural conditions. Gene transfer is particularly important in antibiotic resistance as it allows the rapid transfer of resistance genes between different pathogens.