chapter 6 part 1 Flashcards
genome simplicity
fewer genes & fewer bases than other organisms
haploid genomes
mutations can be observed directly because there i one copy of each gene
short term generation times
can be measured in minutes
enormous numbers of progeny
allow detection of rare events
ease of propagation
bacterial culture is easy & inexpensive & takes up very little space
numerous heritable differences
mutations are easily created, identified, isolated, & manipulated for study
why are bacteria useful genetic models?
-genome simplicity
-haploid genomes
-short generation times
-enormous numbers of progeny
-ease of propagation
-numerous heritable differences
how many chromosomes are bacterial genomes usually composed of?
a single chromosome that carries mostly essential genes
is the bacterial chromosome usually circular or linear?
it is a usually circular model of double stranded DNA
is a bacterial chromosome big or small compared to eukaryotic genomes?
small
it only contains a few thousand to a few million base pairs
how many plasmids do bacteria usually contain?
one or more
what are plasmids
small double-stranded circular DNA molecules containing non-essential genes
are plasmids usually bigger or smaller than bacterial chromosomes?
smaller
how many different kinds of plasmids are found in bacteria?
many different kinds of naturally occurring plasmids are found in bacteria
R (resistance) plasmid
- carries antibiotic resistance genes that can be transferred to recipient cells
F (fertility) plasmid
- contains genes that promote its own transfer from donors to recipients
what are the two types of plasmids
- R (resistance) plasmid & F (fertility) plasmid
can plasmids replicate independently of the bacterial chromosome?
yes, so that the number of plasmids per cell can increase rapidly
high copy number plasmids
plasmids that replicate independently where there are 50 or more of that plasmid per cell
low-copy number plasmids
present in one or two copes per bacterial cell & usually cannot replicate independently of the bacterial chromosome
do low-copy number plasmids replicate independently of the bacterial chromosome?
no
what are the three ways of recombination in prokaryotes?
conjugation
transformation
transduction
conjugation
the transfer of replicated DNA from a donor to a recepient