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Article: Microbial Genetics
- Article from:
- World of Microbiology and Immunology
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Microbial genetics
Microbial genetics is a branch of genetics concerned with the transmission of hereditary characters in
microorganisms
. Within the usual definition, microorganisms include prokaryotes like
bacteria
, unicellular or mycelial
eukaryotes
e.g., yeasts and other
fungi
, and
viruses
, notably bacterial viruses (bacteriophages). Microbial genetics has played a unique role in developing the fields of molecular and cell biology and also has found applications in medicine, agriculture, and the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Because of their relative simplicity, microbes are ideally suited for combined biochemical and genetic studies, and have been successful in ...