Читать книгу Snyder and Champness Molecular Genetics of Bacteria - Tina M. Henkin - Страница 23

Another advantage of bacteria is that they multiply asexually, by cell division. Sexual reproduction, in which individuals of the same species must mate with each other to give rise to progeny, can complicate genetic experiments because the progeny are never identical to their parents. To achieve purebred lines of a sexually reproducing organism, a researcher must repeatedly cross the individuals with their relatives. However, if the organism multiplies asexually by cell division, all the progeny are genetically identical to their parent and to each other. Genetically identical organisms are called clones. Some simpler eukaryotes, such as yeasts, and some types of plants, such as water hyacinths, can also multiply asexually to form clones. Identical twins, formed from the products of the division of an egg after it has been fertilized, are clones of each other. While there are a few examples where mammals have been cloned by transplanting a somatic cell into the ovary, bacteria form clones of themselves every time they divide.