Half of the ligation was transformed into E.Coli Top-ten high-competence bacteria.
The uptake specificity of some naturally competent bacteria can also guide inferences about the evolution of competence.
Natural genetic competence renders bacteria able to take up and, in case there is sufficient homology to the recipient's chromosome, integrate exogenously supplied DNA.
Uptake of naked DNA from the environment, known as natural competence, allows bacteria to survive and thrive in variable environmental conditions.
In these bacteria, competence is induced by the competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) that triggers the process of transformation by interacting with its receptor ComD.
Examples in this direction include the efficiency of the phage lambda switch [ 16] or the differentiation into the competence state in bacteria [ 17].
Ingestion of latex beads, dead FITC-labelled or live GFP-expressing K. pneumoniae was not affected in fspA KO cells compared with WT cells (Fig. 3A), indicating that the KO cells retained their competence to ingest bacteria.
The products of this system are the ComX pheromone and the two-component transduction system ComP and ComA which regulate the occurrence of natural competence in this bacterium (Weinrauch et al. 1990; Dubnau et al. 1994).
In this bacterium, competence is traditionally induced by starving the cells of critical nutrients [ 2, 3].
The American robin, an abundant and commonly tick-infested passerine, is as effective as mice in reservoir competence for this bacterium (17 ).
In certain Gram-positive bacteria, natural competence is induced by strain-specific competence pheromones that are secreted by a subpopulation of these bacteria [11].
