Self Quiz for Prokaryotic Cell Structure: Plasmids and Transposons

Self Quiz for Prokaryotic Cell Structure: Plasmids and Transposons

Study the material in this section and then write out the answers to these questions.
Do not just click on the answers and write them out. This will not test your understanding of this tutorial.

1. Describe plasmids and indicate their possible benefit to bacteria. (ans)

2. State why R-plasmids are presenting quite a problem today in treating many gram-negative infections. (ans)

3. _____________ are small pieces of DNA that encode enzymes that cut segments of DNA from a location in a bacterial nucleoid or in a plasmid and insert it into another nucleoid or plasmid. These segments of translocated DNA often contain genes for antibiotic resistance. (ans)

4. The genes coding for antibiotic resistance in bacterial plasmids frequently change over time, enabling the bacterium to resist new antibiotics. What might account for this? (ans)

5. Define horizontal gene transfer. (ans)

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