REU: Bacterial Transformation as a Mechanism of Gene Transfer in the Marine Environment

海洋微生物群落在海洋环境中的重要性 碳和营养物在远洋生态系统中的循环只有 最近实现了。 然而，遗传信息的流动 在这些社区中的传播情况仍不为人所知。这 一项研究考察了海洋细菌 通过转化过程来传递遗传信息 - 吸收和表达基因编码的遗传信息， 细胞外DNA具体目标有两个：1） 内源性海洋微生物转化研究 外源转化DNA的组合;和2）确定 各种海洋生物发生转化的可能性 环境，并将其与基因的机制进行比较， 在陆地细菌中转移。这些研究将提供一个 更全面地了解转型进程， 海洋环境，以及更好地了解 基因通过海洋微生物群落。

The importance of marine microbial communities in the cycling of carbon and nutrients in pelagic ecosystems has only recently been realized. However, the flux of genetic information through these same communities remains largely unknown. This research examines the capability of marine bacteria to transfer genetic information by the process of transformation- -the uptake and expression of genetic information encoded in extracellular DNA. There are two specific objectives: 1) to investigate transformation of endogenous marine microbial assemblages by exogenous transforming DNA; and 2) to determine the likelihood of transformation occurring in various marine environments and to compare these with the mechanisms of gene transfer in terrestrial bacteria. These studies should provide a more comprehensive picture of the transformation process in the marine environment, and a better understanding of the flux of genes through marine microbial communities.