Gene transfer to Cyanobacteria in the Laboratory and in Nature
Enrique Flores, Alicia M. Muro-Pastor and John C. Meeks
from: The Cyanobacteria: Molecular Biology, Genomics and Evolution (Edited by: Antonia Herrero and Enrique Flores). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2008)
Abstract
Horizontal (lateral) gene transfer is a postulated mechanism influencing bacterial evolution. Known mechanisms of DNA transfer into cyanobacteria include genetic transformation and conjugation with Escherichia coli, which are widely used in the laboratory with several different cyanobacterial strains. Additionally, direct (likely conjugal) transfer of DNA between cyanobacterial strains has been demonstrated. These transfer mechanisms can represent the basis for genetic recombination in natural populations of cyanobacteria, for which several possible examples have been described, as well as for the horizontal transfer that is deduced for some genes in protein phylogeny studies, which have been made possible by the current availability of numerous complete cyanobacterial genomic sequences read more ...
