CMMB 549 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Virulence-Related Outer Membrane Protein Family, Cole1, Dna Replication
28 Dec 2019
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A random mutation causes a desirable change in an organism is selected for by the environment and is passed on by the organism with the desirable mutation to the next generation. Desirable and undesirable mutations continue occurring, however only desirable mutations are passed on. Bacteria adapt to environment by a process of direct change, after which the adapted organism would pass the adaptation onto its offspring. Bacteriologists supported this because they observed that when bacteria are exposed to a toxic substance, all bacteria in the culture seem to become resistant to that substance in response. Tested 2 hypotheses: random-mutation and directed-change hypothesis. Random mutation hypothesis: mutants appear randomly prior to the addition of the selective agent (earlier mutation) If correct, it would suggest that early mutations will have a disproportionate effect on the number of mutants in the culture and the fraction of mutants should vary widely between cultures.
