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. 1995 Apr;61(4):1214–1219. doi: 10.1128/aem.61.4.1214-1219.1995

Effects of Suspended Particulates on the Frequency of Transduction among Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Freshwater Environment

S Ripp, R V Miller
PMCID: PMC1388404  PMID: 16534986

Abstract

Transduction has been shown to play a significant role in the transfer of plasmid and chromosomal DNA in aquatic ecosystems. Such ecosystems contain a multitude of environmental factors, any one of which may influence the transduction process. It was the purpose of this study to show how one of these factors, particulate matter, affects the frequency of transduction. In situ transduction rates were measured in lake water microcosms containing either high or low concentrations of particulate matter. The microcosms were incubated in a freshwater lake in central Oklahoma. Transduction frequencies were found to be enhanced as much as 100-fold in the presence of particulates. Our results suggest that aggregations of bacteriophages and bacterial cells are stimulated by the presence of these suspended particulates. This aggregation increases the probability of progeny phages and transducing particles finding and infecting new host cells. Consequently, both phage production and transduction frequencies increase in the presence of particulate matter.

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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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