Comparative genome analyses revealed a massive DNA exchange between microbes of
distant evolutionary lineages. This phenomenon known as horizontal, or lateral, gene …

Horizontal gene flow is a driving force for bacterial adaptation. Among the three distinct
mechanisms of gene transfer in bacteria, conjugation, transduction, and transformation, the …

Naturally competent bacteria are able to take up exogenous DNA and undergo genetic
transformation. The transport of DNA from the extracellular milieu into the cytoplasm is a …

Natural transformation permits the transport of DNA through bacterial membranes and
represents a dominant mode for the transfer of genetic information between bacteria and …

A major driving force for the adaptation of bacteria to changing environments is the uptake of
naked DNA from the environment by natural transformation, which allows the acquisition of …

The thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus HB27 is known for its highly efficient
natural transformation system, which has become a model system to study the structure and …

▪ Abstract Natural competence is widespread among bacterial species. The mechanism of
DNA uptake in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria is reviewed. The …

Natural competence, the physiological state wherein bacteria produce proteins that mediate
extracellular DNA transport into the cytosol and the subsequent recombination of DNA into …

Natural transformation systems and type IV pili are linked in many naturally competent
bacteria. In the G ram‐negative bacterium T hermus thermophilus, a leading model …

Introduction 3. DNA uptake machinery related to type II secretion proteins and type IV pili
3.1. Tfp and DNA uptake/transport 3.2. DNA binding, fragmentation and uptake in Gram …