Genetics for all bacteria

The availability of genetic analysis has now been extended to a wide variety of bacteria. While the traditional methods of conjugation, transduction, and transformation have made major contributions to microbiology and genetics, new recombinant DNA techniques and the development of new equipment for characterization and isolation of DNA fragments have enabled genome analysis of many bacteria for which no genetic information was previously available. These new procedures have enabled the construction of detailed physical/genetic maps as well as precise measurements of genome size, and provided new data on functional arrangements of genes in the bacterial genome. Such information is proving increasingly valuable for many aspects of microbiology as well as for the genetic manipulation of bacteria important in human disease, agriculture, and biotechnology.