Join thousands of students who trust us to help them ace their exams!Watch the first video
Multiple Choice
In the absence of meiosis and sexual reproduction, what general process allows genetic recombination among prokaryotes?
A
Evolution
B
Mutation
C
Chemoautotrophy
D
Endospore formation
E
Horizontal gene transfer
Verified step by step guidance
1
Understand that prokaryotes, such as bacteria, do not undergo meiosis or sexual reproduction like eukaryotes do. Instead, they have other mechanisms for genetic recombination.
Recognize that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a process by which prokaryotes can exchange genetic material. This process allows for genetic diversity without sexual reproduction.
Identify the three main mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer in prokaryotes: transformation, transduction, and conjugation.
Transformation involves the uptake of naked DNA from the environment by a prokaryotic cell.
Transduction is the process by which bacterial DNA is transferred from one bacterium to another by a virus, and conjugation involves the direct transfer of DNA between two bacterial cells that are temporarily joined.