性对于细菌有什么用处？

Of what use is sex to bacteria?

作者信息

Narra Hema Prasad, Ochman Howard

机构信息

Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.

出版信息

Curr Biol. 2006 Sep 5;16(17):R705-10. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.08.024.

DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2006.08.024

PMID:16950097

Abstract

Though bacteria are predominantly asexual, the genetic information in their genomes can be expanded and modified through mechanisms that introduce DNA from outside sources. Bacterial sex differs from that of eukaryotes in that it is unidirectional and does not involve gamete fusion or reproduction. The input of DNA during bacterial sex generates diversity in two ways--through the alteration of existing genes by recombination and through the introduction of novel sequences--and each of these processes has been shown to aid in the survival and diversification of lineages.

摘要

虽然细菌主要进行无性繁殖，但其基因组中的遗传信息可以通过引入外源DNA的机制得到扩展和修饰。细菌的“性”与真核生物的不同，它是单向的，不涉及配子融合或繁殖。细菌“性”过程中DNA的输入通过两种方式产生多样性——通过重组改变现有基因以及引入新序列——并且这些过程中的每一个都已被证明有助于谱系的生存和多样化。