Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 18, 2026
09:01
Phage-Mediated Genetic Manipulation of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi
Published on: September 28, 2022
2.7K
Transmission as a basic process in microbial biology. Lwoff Award Prize Lecture
1Department of Microbiology, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Division of Biology and Evolution of Microorganisms, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, de Colmenar km 9,100, 28034 Madrid, Spain.
FEMS Microbiology Reviews
|November 15, 2017
Summary
Biological transmission, encompassing vertical and horizontal gene transfer, functions as a communication process. This information flow across generations and compartments drives biological innovation and evolution.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genetics
- Information Theory
Background:
- Transmission is fundamental to biological and evolutionary processes, facilitating information exchange across hierarchical levels (genes to holobionts).
- Biological entities transmit information through vertical descent (across generations) and horizontal descent (across compartments).
- Transmission can be conceptualized using information theory, involving 'emitters,' 'messages,' and 'receivers'.
Conclusions:
- Transmission is a core biological communication process crucial for evolution.
- Understanding transmission dynamics provides insights into biological innovation and adaptation.
- The semiotic nature of biological information is key to transmission and evolutionary change.
Related Concept Videos
01:16Transduction
2.0K
Among the three main modes of HGT—transformation, conjugation, and transduction—transduction is unique in that it is mediated by bacteriophages, or bacterial viruses.Transduction occurs in two ways. Generalized transduction occurs during the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage infection. In this process, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells, replicate within them, and ultimately cause cell lysis, releasing newly assembled virions. Occasionally, random fragments of the bacterial genome...
2.0K
01:33Bacterial Transformation
61.0K
In 1928, bacteriologist Frederick Griffith worked on a vaccine for pneumonia, which is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. Griffith studied two pneumonia strains in mice: one pathogenic and one non-pathogenic. Only the pathogenic strain killed host mice.
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...
61.0K
01:26Transformation
1.1K
Microbial communities are dynamic environments where cell lysis releases free DNA into the surroundings. Other cells can take up this extracellular DNA through a process known as transformation.When a cell incorporates this foreign DNA into its genome, resulting in genetic modification, the process is known as transformation. Cells capable of this process are termed competent. Competence can be natural, as observed in certain bacteria and archaea, or artificially induced in the...
1.1K
01:19Mechanism of Conjugation
1.1K
Bacterial conjugation is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer that enables the exchange of genetic material between bacterial cells through direct contact. This process is facilitated by a donor cell carrying a conjugative plasmid, which encodes genes necessary for pilus formation, DNA replication, and transfer. The conjugative plasmid plays a central role in initiating and executing the transfer of genetic material.The tra region of the conjugative plasmid encodes proteins responsible for...
1.1K
01:29Coordination of Gene Expression Processes in Bacteria
714
The DNA replication, transcription, and translation processes are intricately coupled in bacteria, allowing efficient gene expression and rapid protein synthesis. While this physical and functional coordination is advantageous, it introduces challenges that bacteria overcome through specific regulatory mechanisms.Coupling of Replication, Transcription, and TranslationThe coupling of replication, transcription, and translation is a hallmark of bacterial gene expression. As the replisome unwinds...
714
02:18Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms
31.2K
Genetic transfer occurs when genetic information is passed from one organism to another. It occurs via two mechanisms: vertical gene transfer and horizontal gene transfer. Vertical gene transfer occurs when genetic information is transferred from one generation to the next, which happens much more frequently than horizontal gene transfer. Both sexual and asexual reproduction are forms of vertical gene transfer, where one or more organisms pass some or all of their genome onto their progeny.
31.2K