Most bacteria are haploid organisms containing only one copy of each gene per cell for most of the growth cycle. This means that the chance for correcting random mutations in bacterial genes would ...

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown mechanism by which bacteria share their genetic material through virus parasites. The insights could help scientists to better understand how bacteria ...

A newly revealed mechanism of horizontal gene transfer improves understanding of how antibiotic resistance is transferred between bacteria. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance (AR) is a ...

The induced prophage genome (blue) replicates in situ bidirectionally (1) and amplifies the adjacent bacterial DNA (gray). Phage terminase initiates in situ DNA packaging from a pac site (2), while ...

Bacteriophages (viruses that invade bacteria and can kill them) have gained renewed interest as part of measures to combat the growing tide of antimicrobial resistance. This well-documented phenomenon ...