AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

Episomal transfer was observed between donor and recipient strains of Escherichia coli while under conditions of continuous cultivation in the chemostat donor ratio and the generation time of the recipient cells on rate. The effects of the initial recipient/donor ratio and extent of transfer were determined. It was found that cellular replication does not affect the rate of conversion whereas the recipient/donor ratio drastically alters the rate of recipient conversion. Finally it was found that the number of episomes per donor cell was around 1.3. This study indicates that it is possible to study genetic transfer quantitatively under conditions of continuous cultivation.