In a test tube you combine competent E coli cells with your

In a test tube you combine competent E. coli cells with your genetically engineered plasmid that contains the gene for antibiotic resistance. You treat the solution and plate your product on antibiotic containing media overnight. The next day you see growth on your plate.

1)Was there horizontal gene transfer?

2)How do you know?

3)If so, what kind of gene transfer?

Solution

no what we see next day is only those bacterial colonies on the plate which got transformed previously that is those bacterial colonies in which antibiotic resistance plasmid got sucessfully transformed in them.... because we are growing them on antibiotic contaning medium.

SO THERE WAS NOT ANY HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER

WE CANNOT ASSUME THAT IT WAS BACTERIAL CONJUGATION (HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER) AND IN CONJUGATION RESISTANCE GENE GOT EXCHANGED BETWEEN BACTRIUM, BECAUSE RESISTANCE GENE IS ON PLASMID NOT IN BACTERIUM GENOME ... AND IT SEEMS TO BE TRANSIENT TRANSFORMATION RATHER THAN STABLE TRANSFORMATION. THE possibility of horizontal gene transfer is very less compared to sucessful transformation with plasmid because the cells were already competent and could have taken up plasmid easily

Hope that answers ..... Regards