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Conjugation Pilus
A pilus (Latin for 'hair'; : pili) is a hair-like cell-surface appendage found on many bacteria and archaea. The terms ''pilus'' and ''fimbria (bacteriology), fimbria'' (Latin for 'fringe'; plural: ''fimbriae'') can be used interchangeably, although some researchers reserve the term ''pilus'' for the appendage required for bacterial conjugation. All conjugative pili are primarily composed of pilin – fibrous proteins, which are oligomeric. Dozens of these structures can exist on the bacterial and archaeal surface. Some bacteria, viruses or bacteriophages attach to receptor (biochemistry), receptors on pili at the start of their reproduction, reproductive cycle. Pili are antigenic. They are also fragile and constantly replaced, sometimes with pili of different composition, resulting in altered antigenicity. Specific host responses to old pili structures are not effective on the new structure. Recombination between genes of some (but not all) pili code for variable (V) and const ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conjugation
Conjugation or conjugate may refer to: Linguistics *Grammatical conjugation, the modification of a verb from its basic form *Emotive conjugation or Russell's conjugation, the use of loaded language Mathematics *Complex conjugation, the change of sign of the imaginary part of a complex number *Conjugate (square roots), the change of sign of a square root in an expression *Conjugate element (field theory), a generalization of the preceding conjugations to roots of a polynomial of any degree *Conjugate transpose, the complex conjugate of the transpose of a matrix *Harmonic conjugate in complex analysis *Conjugate (graph theory), an alternative term for a line graph, i.e. a graph representing the edge adjacencies of another graph *In group theory, various notions are called conjugation: **Inner automorphism, a type of conjugation homomorphism **Conjugacy class in group theory, related to matrix similarity in linear algebra **Conjugation (group theory), the image of an element under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gram-positive Bacteria
In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain is used by microbiologists to place bacteria into two main categories, gram-positive (+) and gram-negative (−). Gram-positive bacteria have a thick layer of peptidoglycan within the cell wall, and gram-negative bacteria have a thin layer of peptidoglycan. Gram-positive bacteria retain the crystal violet stain used in the test, resulting in a purple color when observed through an optical microscope. The thick layer of peptidoglycan in the bacterial cell wall retains the stain after it has been fixed in place by iodine. During the decolorization step, the decolorizer removes crystal violet from all other cells. Conversely, gram-negative bacteria cannot retain the violet stain after the decolorization step; alcohol used in this stage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Ontology
The Gene Ontology (GO) is a major bioinformatics initiative to unify the representation of gene and gene product attributes across all species. More specifically, the project aims to: 1) maintain and develop its controlled vocabulary of gene and gene product attributes; 2) annotate genes and gene products, and assimilate and disseminate annotation data; and 3) provide tools for easy access to all aspects of the data provided by the project, and to enable functional interpretation of experimental data using the GO, for example via enrichment analysis. GO is part of a larger classification effort, the Open Biomedical Ontologies, being one of the Initial Candidate Members of the OBO Foundry. Whereas gene nomenclature focuses on gene and gene products, the Gene Ontology focuses on the function of the genes and gene products. The GO also extends the effort by using a markup language to make the data (not only of the genes and their products but also of curated attributes) machine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appendage
An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part or natural prolongation that protrudes from an organism's body such as an arm or a leg. Protrusions from single-celled bacteria and archaea are known as cell-surface appendages or surface appendages. In many kinds of eukaryotic cells, the protrusions are known as membrane protrusions or cell appendages (examples include microvilli and cilia). Types in animals In arthropods, an appendage refers to any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment, including antennae, mouthparts (including mandibles, maxillae and maxillipeds), gills, locomotor legs ( pereiopods for walking, and pleopods for swimming), sexual organs ( gonopods), and parts of the tail (uropods). Typically, each body segment carries one pair of appendages. An appendage which is modified to assist in feeding is known as a maxilliped or gnathopod. In annelids lateral protrusions from the body are called parapodia. In echinoderms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antibiotic Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resistance), viruses (antiviral resistance), parasites (antiparasitic resistance), and fungi (antifungal resistance). Together, these adaptations fall under the AMR umbrella, posing significant challenges to healthcare worldwide. Misuse and improper management of antimicrobials are primary drivers of this resistance, though it can also occur naturally through genetic mutations and the spread of resistant genes. Antibiotic resistance, a significant AMR subset, enables bacteria to survive antibiotic treatment, complicating infection management and treatment options. Resistance arises through spontaneous mutation, horizontal gene transfer, and increased selective pressure from antibiotic overuse, both in medicine and agriculture, which accelerat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selfish DNA
Selfish genetic elements (historically also referred to as selfish genes, ultra-selfish genes, selfish DNA, parasitic DNA and genomic outlaws) are genetic segments that can enhance their own transmission at the expense of other genes in the genome, even if this has no positive or a net negative effect on organismal fitness. Genomes have traditionally been viewed as cohesive units, with genes acting together to improve the fitness of the organism. Early observations of selfish genetic elements were made almost a century ago, but the topic did not get widespread attention until several decades later. Inspired by the gene-centred views of evolution popularized by George Williams and Richard Dawkins, two papers were published back-to-back in ''Nature'' in 1980 – by Leslie Orgel and Francis Crick and by Ford Doolittle and Carmen Sapienza – introducing the concept of selfish genetic elements (at the time called "selfish DNA") to the wider scientific community. Both papers emphasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plasmid
A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria and archaea; however plasmids are sometimes present in and eukaryotic organisms as well. Plasmids often carry useful genes, such as those involved in antibiotic resistance, virulence, secondary metabolism and bioremediation. While chromosomes are large and contain all the essential genetic information for living under normal conditions, plasmids are usually very small and contain additional genes for special circumstances. Artificial plasmids are widely used as vectors in molecular cloning, serving to drive the replication of recombinant DNA sequences within host organisms. In the laboratory, plasmids may be introduced into a cell via transformation. Synthetic plasmids are available for procurement over the internet by various vendors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mating Bridge
A mating bridge, also known as a conjugation or population bridge, is a connection between two bacterial cells that provides a passageway for DNA in bacterial conjugation. A mating bridge is different from a sex pilus, which is a structure made by an F+ strain bacterium in bacterial conjugation. The pili (plural) act as attachment sites that promote the binding of bacteria to each other. In this way, an F+ strain makes physical contact with an F− strain. Once contact is made, the pili shorten and thereby draw the donor and recipient cells closer together. A conjugation bridge is then formed between the two cells, which provides a passageway for DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ... transfer. References {{Reflist Bacteriology Organelles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanometer
330px, Different lengths as in respect to the Molecule">molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm), or nanometer (American spelling Despite the various list of dialects of English, English dialects spoken from country to country and within different regions of the same country, there are only slight regional variations in English orthography, the two most notable variati ...), is a units of measurement, unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one billionth (short scale) or one thousand million (long scale) of a metre, meter (0.000000001 m) and to 1000 picometres. One nanometre can be expressed in scientific notation as 1 × 10−9 m and as m. History The nanometre was formerly known as the "''millimicrometre''" – or, more commonly, the "''millimicron''" for short – since it is of a micrometre, micrometer. It was often de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacterial Conjugation
Bacterial conjugation is the transfer of genetic material between Bacteria, bacterial cells by direct cell-to-cell contact or by a bridge-like connection between two cells. This takes place through a pilus. It is a parasexual cycle, parasexual mode of reproduction in bacteria. It is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer as are Transformation (genetics), transformation and Transduction (genetics), transduction 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 biogenesis, 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 trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fertility Factor (bacteria)
The F-plasmid (first named F by one of its discoverers Esther Lederberg；also called the sex factor in ''E. coli''，the F sex factor, the fertility factor, or simply the F factor) allows genes to be transferred from one bacterium carrying the factor to another bacterium lacking the factor by conjugation. The F factor was the first plasmid to be discovered. Unlike other plasmids, F factor is constitutive for transfer proteins due to a mutation in the gene ''finO''. The F plasmid belongs to F-like plasmids, a class of conjugative plasmids that control sexual functions of bacteria with a fertility inhibition (Fin) system. Discovery Esther M. Lederberg and Luigi L. Cavalli-Sforza discovered "F," subsequently publishing with Joshua Lederberg. Once her results were announced, two other labs joined the studies. "This was not a simultaneous independent discovery of F (I named this as Fertility Factor until it was understood.) We wrote to Hayes, Jacob, & Wollman who then proceeded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
