After performing a mating experiment, the agar plate has numerous transconjugants growing on it. What conclusion can be drawn from this observation?

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Question restated: After performing a mating experiment, the agar plate has numerous transconjugants growing on it. What conclusion can be drawn from this observation?

Option 1: The bacteriophage has integrated into the chromosome. This would suggest a transduction event, not conjugation, and would not typically explain rapid appearance of many transconjugants on a mating plate. So this interpretation is unlikely given the context of a mating experiment designed to assess plasmid transfer.

Option 2: DNA replication of the chromosome was successful. While successful chromosomal replication is essential for cell division, it does not specifically explain the appearance of transconjugants resulting from a mating experiment. Conjugation relates to plasmid transfer between cells, not just chromosomal replication success.

Option 3: The plasmid present in the donor strain is conjugative. In a mating/co-culture setup, the emergence of transconjugants directly demonstrates that genetic material has been transferred from donor to recipient, which requires a conjugative plasmid capable of transfer through the mating pilus. This explanation aligns with classic conjugation experiments where conjugative plasmids mediate transfer and establish recipients as transconjugants.

Option 4: The recipient strain is sensitive to the antibiotics used. If the recipient were sensitive, this could influence antibiotic selection, but the core observation of transconjugants on a mating plate points to successful plasmid transfer rather than simply antibiotic sensitivity in the recipient. Sensitivity alone does not explain the appearance of transconjugants.

Option 5: The recipient strain contains a bacteriophage. Presence of a bacteriophage in the recipient could lead to transduction or other phage-related effects, but transconjugants arising after a mating experiment are best explained by plasmid transfer via conjugation, not phage-mediated processes. Therefore this option does not fit the observed outcome.

Summary of reasoning: The defining feature of a mating experiment showing many transconjugants is that a plasmid capable of conjugative transfer was present in the donor and successfully transferred to recipients. The other options describe alternative genetic exchange mechanisms or related factors (transduction, chromosomal replication, antibiotic sensitivity, phage presence) that do not directly account for the observed transconjugants arising in a standard conjugation assay. Thus, the key takeaway is that a conjugative plasmid enables the donor to transfer genetic material to recipients, resulting in transconjugants on the plate.

AGRI20044_2025_SM1 Exam: Microbiology in Agriculture (AGRI20044_2025_SM1)- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

After performing a mating experiment, the agar plate has numerous transconjugants growing on it. What conclusion can be drawn from this observation?

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