Bacterial Conjugation, TEM
A transmission electron micrograph (TEM) showing bacterial recombination. The slender tube between the two bacteria of different strains in this electron micrograph is known as a "pilus" (plural: pilli) (in yellow). Its proteins are produced in a plasmid-plus bacterium by two genes on the plasmid chromosome. The pilus is a plasmid's way of moving its genes from bacterium to another. Once the pilus forms the plasmid undergoes a round of replication. The new plasmid chromosome passes through the pilus into the plasmid-minus bacterium. The arrival of a plasmid changes the recipient into a plasmid-plus bacterium, which is capable of repeating the process. Magnification = x40,000.
Size: 2802px × 4157px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: bacteria, bacterial, bacterium, cell, celled, color, conjugating, conjugation, conjugative, electron, enhance, enhancement, exchange, gene, genetic, histology, microbe, micrograph, micrography, microorganism, microscopy, pathogenic, pili, pilus, plasmid, plasmids, prokaryote, recombination, single, tem, transmission
