1 results about "Transfer gene" patented technology

Transfer operon, commonly called tra operon, or tra genes, are some genes necessary for non-sexual transfer of genetic material in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The tra locus includes the pilin gene and regulatory genes, which together form pili on the cell surface, polymeric proteins that can attach themselves to the surface of F-bacteria and initiate the conjugation. The existence of the tra region of a plasmid genome was first discovered in 1979 by David H. Figurski and Donald R. Helinski In the course of their work, Figurski and Helinski also discovered a second key fact about the tra region – that it can act in trans to the mobilization marker which it affects.