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. 1969 Mar;9(3):391–420. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(69)86393-9

Conjugation in Escherichia coli K-12 and Its Modification by Irradiation

Thomas H Wood, Roger H Walmsley
PMCID: PMC1367575  PMID: 4888977

Abstract

The steps of normal bacterial conjugation (union, transfer, integration and segregation) are described in analytical terms. Only two parameters are utilized: νmt0, the probability of interruption of transfer of the male chromosome per unit chromosomal distance; and νr0, the probability per unit chromosomal distance of a recombinational event. Experimentally these two parameters have the same value (0.06 min-1 or 10-6 per nucleotide pair). Irradiation of the donor parent prior to mating increases the transfer parameter (νmt = νmt0 + σmtD) and a complete description of the radiation response of recombinant production is obtained by a consideration of the single parameter σmt. Irradiation of the recipient parent prior to mating increases the recombination parameter (νr = νr0 + σrD) and a complete description of the radiation response of recombinant production is obtained by the addition of the parameter σr. Experimentally σmt and σr are found to have the same value, approximately 0.004 krad-1 min-1 for X-irradiation. It is thus possible to describe mathematically the behavior of the unperturbed mating system by a single parameter ν0; a single additional parameter σ is adequate to describe the behavior of the system when either parental type is irradiated prior to mating. The unexpected observation that νmt and νr have the same value suggests that common molecular mechanisms are involved in the transfer and integration steps.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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