Assignment task: In an experiment, a researcher is using two auxotrophic strains of bacteria, each deficient in one amino acid so that they cannot grow alone on minimal medium. He does the following before growing them again on minimal medium:
1. Combines the bacterial cultures together in the same mixture.
2. Grows the two bacterial strains in a culture where the media is mixed but the two strains do not have direct contact with each other.
In only Case 1, one of the bacterial strains has become a prototroph, meaning that it can produce a few colonies that grow on the minimal media. Case 2 produces no colonies. Can you conclude that the transfer of genetic information has occurred via one method or another? Why or why not?