Conjugation involves a donor bacterium that contains a conjugative plasmid and a recipient cell that does not. A conjugative plasmid is self-transmissible, in that it possesses all the necessary genes for that plasmid to transmit itself to another bacterium by conjugation. Conjugation genes known as tra genes enable the bacterium to form a mating pair with another organism, while oriT (origin of transfer) genes determine where on the plasmid DNA transfer is initiated. In addition, mobilizable plasmids that lack the tra genes for self-transmissibility but possess the oriT genes for initiation of DNA transfer may also be transferred by conjugation if the bacterium containing them also possesses a conjugative plasmid. The tra genes of the conjugative plasmid enable a mating pair to form and the oriT genes of the mobilizable plasmid enable the DNA to moves through the conjugative bridge.

Flash animation illustrating The Transfer of Conjugative Plasmids and Mobilizable Plasmids in Bacteria.swf by Gary E. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology, The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/~gkaiser/index.html.

Last updated: August, 2018
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