Microbiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Microbiology 152 (2006), 2683-2688; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.29013-0
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Draghi, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Turner, P. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Draghi, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Turner, P. E.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Draghi, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Turner, P. E.
Microbiology 152 (2006), 2683-2688; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.29013-0
© 2006 Society for General Microbiology

DNA secretion and gene-level selection in bacteria

Jeremy A. Draghi and Paul E. Turner

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA

Correspondence
Jeremy Draghi
jeremy.draghi{at}yale.edu

Natural genetic transformation can facilitate gene transfer in many genera of bacteria and requires the presence of extracellular DNA. Although cell lysis can contribute to this extracellular DNA pool, several studies have suggested that the secretion of DNA from living bacteria may also provide genetic material for transformation. This paper reviews the evidence for specific secretion of DNA from intact bacteria into the extracellular environment and examines this behaviour from a population-genetics perspective. A mathematical model demonstrates that the joint action of DNA secretion and transformation creates a novel type of gene-level natural selection. This model demonstrates that gene-level selection could explain the existence of DNA secretion mechanisms that provide no benefit to individual cells or populations of bacteria. Additionally, the model predicts that any trait affecting DNA secretion will experience selection at the gene level in a transforming population. This analysis confirms that the secretion of DNA from intact bacterial cells is fully explicable with evolutionary theory, and reveals a novel mechanism for bacterial evolution.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL
J MED MICROBIOL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 2006 Society for General Microbiology.