Abstract
The process of transformation was the first genetic transfer process to be observed in bacteria, and yet it remains as one of the most remarkable transfer mechanisms. Large DNA fragments (as much as several million daltons in size) are released from a donor cell and diffuse through the culture medium until they encounter other cells. The molecules are then transported into the recipient cells and recombination occurs. The most remarkable thing about this process is that it manages to occur at all. As anyone who has ever attempted to prepare pure DNA in a laboratory can attest, the world is full of enzymes which readily degrade DNA. Yet somehow these large DNA fragments do manage to survive their journey from cell to cell.
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Birge, E.A. (1981). Transformation. In: Bacterial and Bacteriophage Genetics. Springer Series in Microbiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1749-5_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1749-5_8
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