The importance of marine microbial communities in the cycling of carbon and nutrients in pelagic ecosystems has only recently been realized. However, the flux of genetic information through these same communities remains largely unknown. This research examines the capability of marine bacteria to transfer genetic information by the process of transformation- -the uptake and expression of genetic information encoded in extracellular DNA. There are two specific objectives: 1) to investigate transformation of endogenous marine microbial assemblages by exogenous transforming DNA; and 2) to determine the likelihood of transformation occurring in various marine environments and to compare these with the mechanisms of gene transfer in terrestrial bacteria. These studies should provide a more comprehensive picture of the transformation process in the marine environment, and a better understanding of the flux of genes through marine microbial communities.
