Conjugation is a mechanism of horizontal transfer of genetic material between two cells through direct cell-to-cell contact. Conjugation is mediated by a conjugative plasmid or transposon and allows gene transfer between bacteria, but also between bacteria and eukaryotic organisms such as plants and yeast cells, and even to mammalian cell lines.
Bacterial conjugation is often incorrectly regarded as the bacterial equivalent of sexual reproduction or mating. It is not actually sexual, as mammals reproduce, where a sperm and egg fuse nor is there equal exchange of genetic material. It is merely the transfer of genetic information from a donor cell to a recipient. The genetic information transferred by plasmids can be beneficial to the recipient cell. Benefits may include for example antibiotic, heavy metal, or resistance to ultraviolet light, or the ability to utilize a new metabolitew. Such beneficial plasmids may be considered bacterial endosymbiontsw. Other conjugative elements can be costly to the bacteria and may be viewed as genetic parasites.- modified from wikipedia
back to: plasmids : horizontal gene transfer, HGT: transformation : conjugation
