TRANSDUCTION

TRANSDUCTION

It is one of the method of genetic transfer.

The transfer of genetic material from one bacterium to other bacteria by a bacteriophage is known as transduction.

Bacteriophage is a bacterial virus consists of nucleic acid core and a protein coat. It exhibits two types of life cycles

Virulent or lytic
Temperate or non-lytic

In transduction, phage acts only as a vehicle carrying genetic information from cell to cell, eg: Pencillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus.

In lysogenic conversion the phage DNA itself is new genetic element, eg: Corynebacterium diphtheriae toxin mediated by beta phage

Tranduction may be ‘generalized’- when it involves any segment of the donor DNA at random, or it can be ‘restricted’-when a specific bacteriophage tranduces only a particular genetic trait, e.g.: lambda phage of E. coli.

Tranduction is not confined to only DNA, but can also be transduced to episomes and plasmids.

This method is widespread in prokaryotes occasionally in eukaryotes. It has been proposed as a method of genetic engineering in the treatment of some inborn errors of metabolism.