HGT Mechanisms in Prokaryotes
This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.
State
Prokaryotes exchange genetic material horizontally by three classical mechanisms: transformation, taking up free DNA; transduction, a virus carrying DNA; and conjugation, direct contact.
Show
A bacterium acquiring an antibiotic-resistance gene by taking up free DNA released from a dead cell nearby is undergoing transformation.
Watch for
These three are classical — gene transfer agents, virus-like particles carrying DNA, are a more recently discovered fourth mechanism.