Conjugation is the process of transferring DNA from a donor to a recipient cell with the

establishment of the incoming DNA and its cargo of genetic traits within the
transconjugant.Bacterial Conjugation is genetic recombination in which there is a transfer of
DNA from a living donor bacterium to a recipient bacterium. Often involves a sex pilus.
Genetic recombination in which fragments of chromosomal DNA from a male donor bacterium
are transferred to a female recipient bacterium following insertion of an F+ plasmid into the
nucleoid of the donor bacterium.Conjugative plasmids are involved in the dissemination of
important traits such as antibiotic resistance, virulence determinants and metabolic pathways
involved in adapting to environmental niches, a process termed horizontal or lateral gene transfer
Conjugation is mediated by self-transmissible plasmids as well as phage-like sequences that have
been integrated into the bacterial chromosome, such as integrative and conjugative elements
(ICEs) that now include conjugative transposons. Both conjugative plasmids and ICEs can
mediate the transfer of mobilizable elements by sharing their conjugative machinery.
Conjugation can either be induced, usually by small molecules or peptides or by excision of the
ICE from the host chromosome, or it can be tightly regulated by plasmid- and host-encoded
factors. The transfer potential of these transfer regions depends on the integration of many
signals in response to environmental and physiological cues. This review will focus on the
mechanisms that influence transfer potential in these systems, particularly those of the IncF
incompatibility group.

the transfer of genetic material between bacterial cells by direct cell-to-cell contact or by a

bridge-like connection between two cells is known as bacterial conjugation. This takes place
through a pilus. It is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer as are transduction and
transformation  although these two other mechanisms do not involve cell-to-cell contact.
Classical E. coli bacterial conjugation is often regarded as the bacterial equivalent of sexual
reproduction or mating since it involves the exchange of genetic material. However, it is not
sexual reproduction, since no exchange of gamete occurs, and indeed no generation of a new
organism: instead an existing organism is transformed. During classical E. coli conjugation
the donor cell provides a conjugative or mobilizable genetic element that is most often
a plasmid or transposon. Most conjugative plasmids have systems ensuring that the recipient cell
does not already contain a similar element. Strohmaier (1998) The genetic information
transferred is often beneficial to the recipient.

The advantages may include antibiotic resistance and the ability to use new metabolites. Such
beneficial plasmids may be considered bacterial endosymbionts. Other elements, however, may
be viewed as bacterial parasites and conjugation as a mechanism evolved by them to allow for
their spread. Conjugation in Escherichia coli by spontaneous zygogenesis and in Mycobacterium
smegmatis by distributive conjugal transfer differ from the more well studied classical E.coli
according to Serna (2010) Bacterial conjugation is a way by which a bacterial cell transfers
genetic material to another bacterial cell. The genetic material that is transferred through
bacterial conjugation is a small plasmid, known as F-plasmid (F for fertility factor), that carries
genetic information different from that which is already present in the chromosomes of the
bacterial cell. In fact, the F-plasmid can replicate in the cytoplasm separately from the bacterial
chromosome. A cell that already has a copy of the F-plasmid is called an F-positive, F-plus or F+
cell, and is considered a donor cell, while a cell that does not have a copy of the F-plasmid is
called an F-negative, F-minus or F– cell, and is considered a recipient cell. The transfer of the F-
plasmid takes place through a horizontal connection by which the donor cell and the recipient
cell directly contact each other or form a bridge between the two through which the genetic
material is transferred. In cases where the F-plasmid of a donor cell has been integrated in the
cell’s genome (i.e., in the chromosome), a part of the chromosomal DNA may also be transferred
to the recipient cell together with the F-plasmid.Zharl(2010) To transfer the F-plasmid, a donor
cell and a recipient cell must first establish contact. At this point, when the cells establish
contact, the F-plasmid in the donor cell is a double-stranded DNA molecule that forms a circular
structure. Bacterial conjugation is a step by step process. The F+ (donor) cell produces the pilus,
which is a structure that projects out of the cell and begins contact with an F– (recipient) cell.
Then the pilus enables direct contact between the donor and the recipient cells. Because the F-
plasmid consists of a double-stranded DNA molecule forming a circular structure, i.e., it is
attached on both ends, an enzyme nicks one of the two DNA strands of the F-plasmid and this
strand is transferred to the recipient cell. In the last step, the donor cell and the recipient cell,
both containing single-stranded DNA, replicate this DNA and thus end up forming a double-
stranded F-plasmid identical to the original F-plasmid. Given that the F-plasmid contains
information to synthesize pili and other proteins , the old recipient cell is now a donor cell with
the F-plasmid and the ability to form pili, just as the original donor cell was. Now both cells are
donors or F+.the diagram in figure 1 shows the steps of the conjugation process.

according to Lucchini(2006)in an effort to prevent transferring the F-plasmid to an F+ cell, the F-

plasmid usually contains information that allows the donor cell to detect (and avoid) cells that
already have one. the F-plasmid contains two main loci (tra and trb), an origin of replication
(OriV) and an origin of transfer (OriT). The tra locus contains the genetic information to enable
the donor cell to be attached to a recipient cell: the genes in the tra locus code for proteins to
form the pili (pilin gene) in order to start the cell-cell contact, and other proteins to get attached
to the F– cell and to start the transfer of the F-plasmid. The trb locus contains DNA that codes for
other proteins, such as some that are involved in creating a channel through which the DNA is
transferred from the F+ to the F– cell. The OriV is the site at which replication of the DNA occurs
and the OriT is the site at which the enzyme relaxase (or the relaxosome protein complex) nicks
the DNA strand of the F-plasmid. Although the DNA that is transferred in bacterial conjugation
is that present in the F-plasmid, when the donor cell has integrated the F-plasmid into its own
chromosomal DNA, bacterial conjugation can result in the transfer of the F-plasmid and of
chromosomal DNA. In this case, a longer contact between the donor and the recipient cells
results in a larger amount of chromosomal DNA being transferred. The advantages of bacterial
conjugation make this method of gene transfer a widely used technique in bioengineering. Other
advantages include the ability to transfer relatively large sequences of DNA and not harming the
host’s cellular envelope.

REFERENCES

Serna A, Espinosa E, Camacho EM, Casadesús J.(2010).: Regulation of bacterial conjugation in

microaerobiosis Genetics 184(4),

Strohmaier H, Noiges R, Kotschan S et al. (1998).Signal transduction and bacterial

conjugation:

characterization of the role of ArcA in regulating conjugative transfer of the resistance

plasmid R1. J. Mol. Biol. 277, 309–316 38.

Zahrl D, Wagner M, Bischof K, Koraimann G. (2010): Expression and assembly of a functional

Type IV secretion system elicit extracytoplasmic Micro biol5(7)

Lucchini S, Rowley G, Goldberg MD, Hurd D (2006). mediates the

silencing of laterally acquired genes in bacteria.

Frost LS, Manchak J(1998).: F- phenocopies: characterization of expression of the F transfer

region in stationary phase. Microbiology 144(9),

QUESTION : Using clearly labeled diagrams describe the process of bacte

FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED BIOSCIENCE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

NAME: NORMAN

SURNAME: ZIMBILI

REG NUMBER: R182449F

PROGRAM: APPLIED BIOSCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

LEVEL: 2.1

MODULE: HABB 203

LECTURER: MRS MGUNI

DUE DATE: 06/10/2019

ASSIGNMENT: 2 bacterial transduction