Which Bacterial Gene Transfer Process Would Be Inhibited by Free

Question

Which bacterial gene transfer process would be inhibited by free extracellular exonucleases?
A) Conjugation
B) Generalized transduction
C) Specialized transduction
D) Transformation
E) Transposition

Accepted Answer

In transformation, the DNA is extracellular before it is picked up by the competent cells; during this period, the DNA is subject to the extracellular exonucleases. Because the DNA in generalized and specialized transduction is protected extracellularly by the virus capsid, it is not subject to extracellular exonucleases. In conjunction, the DNA is never outside of a cell. Transposition is a mechanism of inserting a transposon into another molecule of DNA and has no extracellular transport mechanism associated with it.