Transduction

Transduction is the phage-mediated movement of especially bacterial DNA from one bacterium to another. Typically, the donor bacterium dies in the process of donating its DNA (as a consequence phage-induced bacterial lysis) and the recipient may either homologously recombine with the incoming DNA, illegitimately recombine with that DNA (such that some degree of insertion occurs into the bacterial genome), or the DNA may recombine in the course of prophage insertion. In addition, transduction can move plasmids between bacteria, which typically does not involve subsequent recombination, at least with the bacterial chromosome.

Transduction may be differentiated into a number of different forms and mechanisms...

1. Generalized transduction
2. Specialized transduction
3. Morons

More generically, phages have been implicated in the movement of various "genomic islands" of typically functionally related bacterial genes (including pathogenicity islands, etc.) between bacteria.

At the moment the community ecology section of the phage ecology entry on Wikipedia is a useful resource so please see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transduction  for more information on this subject.
 

Links

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transduction

Internal hierarchy

1. phage.atwiki.com
2. bacteriophage ecology
3. bacteriophage community ecology
4. bacteriophage-bacteria community ecology
5. transduction