Death and transfiguration among bacteria.
When bacteria are placed in sub-optimal environments, they can respond by increasing the frequency of mutants created by base substitution, frame-shift and transposition mutations. Also, during periods of restrictive growth, 'dead' bacterial cells may transfer genetic material to neighboring colony-forming cells. This can be beneficial, resulting in a heterogeneous population that may exhibit differentiation and even produce killer cells. These discoveries reveal several conundrums about the control of an organism over mutations and the supposed randomness of genetic variation.
Higgins
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Department of Biochemistry, University of Alabama, Birmingham 35294-0005.
D016923:Cell Death; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000235:genetics; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D019895:Transposases
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; D019895:Transposases