erikoistransduktio

Erikoistransduktio, a Finnish term, translates to "special transduction" or "specific transduction" in English. It refers to a type of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria mediated by bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect bacteria. In general transduction, a bacteriophage accidentally packages a random piece of bacterial DNA into its capsid during replication. However, in specialized transduction, the integration and excision of the phage DNA from the bacterial chromosome are not entirely random.

This process is closely linked to lysogenic phages, which can integrate their genetic material into the host bacterium's genome, becoming a prophage. When the prophage is induced to excise from the bacterial chromosome and begin the lytic cycle, it may inaccurately detach, taking with it a small segment of adjacent bacterial DNA. This bacterial DNA, along with the phage DNA, is then packaged into new phage particles.

When these specialized transducing phages infect a new bacterium, they can deliver both the phage genes and the specific bacterial genes that were co-packaged. This allows for the transfer of specific bacterial genes, often those located near the prophage integration site, from one bacterium to another. Specialized transduction plays a role in bacterial evolution and genetic diversity, enabling the spread of particular traits within bacterial populations.