Horizontal Gene Transfer

Mutation

A permanent change in the nucleotide sequence which may create new cellular functionalities or lead to disfunction in existing properties

Silent mutation

A change that does not result in a change to the amino acids (does not affect the phenotype)

Missense mutation

A change that results in a change to the amino acids

Nonsense mutation

A stop codon is introduced meaning that translation is terminated

Horizontal gene transfer

The transfer of genes between cells of the same generation (parent → parent, child → child etc.)

Name two ways horizontal gene transfer can occrur

Transduction, transformation, conjugation

Transduction

Phages package bacterial DNA and transfer it to another bacterium

Phage

A virus that infects prokaryotic cells

Generalised transduction

No specific site to interact with so the phage packages any DNA

Specialised transduction

There is a specific site for the phage to interact with, so it only packages/transfers specific sets of DNA at that site

Transformation

The uptake of foreign DNA and its integration into the bacterial chromosome by homologous recombination

Conjugation

Transfer of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) from one bacterial cell (donor) to another cell (recipient) through direct contact

Transformant

Cell that has received genetic material by transformation

Transconjugant

Cell that has received genetic material by conjugation