During bacterial transformation, DNA that enters a cell is not an intact chromosome; instead it consists of randomly generated fragments of chromosomal DNA. In a transformation where the donor DNA was from a bacterial strain that was a + b + c + and the recipient was a b c, 55% of the cells that became a + were also transformed to c + But only 2% of the a + cells were b+. Is gene b or c closer to gene a?

Question

Biology

Makena Montgomery

6 March, 14:03

During bacterial transformation, DNA that enters a cell is not an intact chromosome; instead it consists of randomly generated fragments of chromosomal DNA. In a transformation where the donor DNA was from a bacterial strain that was a + b + c + and the recipient was a b c, 55% of the cells that became a + were also transformed to c + But only 2% of the a + cells were b+. Is gene b or c closer to gene a?

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Answers (1)

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Isai Calderon · Answer 1

Gene c is closer to a.

Explanation:

The process by which the bacteria take up the genetic material which is foreign from the environment is called as bacterial transformation and it is a type of horizontal gene transfer. When during transformation there is a simultaneous transfer of two or more genes then such type of transformation called co-transformation. According to the question, there is co-transformation occurring for both the genes a and b as well as for a and c, however, the frequency of cotransformation of a and c is higher (55%) than a and b (2%). A higher frequency of co-transformation indicates that the two genes are located more closely on the chromosome and hence, are usually transferred together, thus a and c are much closer as compared to a and b.