Origin of transfer: Difference between revisions

{{Main|Bacterial conjugationDiatom}}

Conjugation allows for the transfer of target genes to many recipients, including [[yeast]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Heinemann JA, Sprague GF | title = Bacterial conjugative plasmids mobilize DNA transfer between bacteria and yeast | journal = Nature | volume = 340 | issue = 6230 | pages = 205–209 | date = July 1989 | pmid = 2666856 | doi = 10.1038/340205a0 }}</ref> [[Eukaryote|mammalian cells]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kunik T, Tzfira T, Kapulnik Y, Gafni Y, Dingwall C, Citovsky V | title = Genetic transformation of HeLa cells by Agrobacterium | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 98 | issue = 4 | pages = 1871–1876 | date = February 2001 | pmid = 11172043 | pmc = 29349 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.98.4.1871 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Waters VL | title = Conjugation between bacterial and mammalian cells | journal = Nature Genetics | volume = 29 | issue = 4 | pages = 375–376 | date = December 2001 | pmid = 11726922 | doi = 10.1038/ng779 }}</ref> and [[diatom]]s.<ref name=":4">{{cite journal | vauthors = Karas BJ, Diner RE, Lefebvre SC, McQuaid J, Phillips AP, Noddings CM, Brunson JK, Valas RE, Deerinck TJ, Jablanovic J, Gillard JT, Beeri K, Ellisman MH, Glass JI, Hutchison CA, Smith HO, Venter JC, Allen AE, Dupont CL, Weyman PD | display-authors = 6 | title = Designer diatom episomes delivered by bacterial conjugation | journal = Nature Communications | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 6925 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25897682 | pmc = 4411287 | doi = 10.1038/ncomms7925 }}</ref>

Diatoms could be very useful plasmid hosts as they have the potential to [[Autotroph|autotrophically]] produce [[Biofuel|biofuels]] and other chemicals.<ref name=":4" /> There are some methods for [[Transformation (genetics)|genetic transfer]] for diatoms, but they are slow compared to bacterial conjugation. By designing plasmids for the diatoms ''[[Phaeodactylum tricornutum|P. tricornutum]]'' and ''[[Thalassiosira pseudonana|T. pseudonana]]'' based on sequences for yeast and developing a method for conjugation from ''[[Escherichia coli|E. coli]]'' to the diatoms, researchers hope to advance genetic manipulation in diatoms.<ref name=":4" />

One of the main problems in using bacterial conjugation in [[genetic engineering]] is that certain [[selectable marker]]s on the plasmids generate bacteria that have resistance to antibiotics like [[ampicillin]] and [[Kanamycin A|kanamycin]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lopatkin AJ, Meredith HR, Srimani JK, Pfeiffer C, Durrett R, You L | title = Persistence and reversal of plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance | journal = Nature Communications | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = 1689 | date = November 2017 | pmid = 29162798 | pmc = 5698434 | doi = 10.1038/s41467-017-01532-1 }}</ref>