Summary
Experiments conducted in microcosms containing loam soil samples inoculated with eitherE. coli orPseudomonas spp. donor and recipient cells showed that bacterial cells survived and conjugated over a 24-h incubation period.E. coli transconjugants were detected 6 h after donor and recipient strains were introduced into sterile soil samples. In non-sterile soil samples, transconjugants were detected between 8 and 24 h incubation.Pseudomonas transconjugants were recovered from sterile soil samples between 6 and 12 h after their introduction and as early as 2 h in non-sterile soil. The results show that genetic interactions occur in non-sterile soil in relatively short periods of time at relatively high transfer frequencies (10−3 to 10−4). Studies on genetic interactions in soil are becoming necessary in risk assessment/environmental impact studies prior to the release of genetically engineered or modified organisms into uncontained environments.
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Berg, G., Trevors, J.T. Bacterial conjugation betweenEscherichia coli andPseudomonas spp. donor and recipient cells in soil. Journal of Industrial Microbiology 5, 79–84 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01573856
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01573856