Abstract
Due to industrial interest, the potential of genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs) to transfer recombinant DNA to natural populations is a point of concern. The process of gene transfer in the environment is not well understood and is currently under investigation. Water or soil microcosms allow a realistic approach for measuring gene transfer and they constitute a compromise between field and laboratory conditions. Various water microcosms have been used, such as dialysis chambers, immersed in aquatic media and shaken,1 mixed culture fermenters in which donor and recipient populations are grown together with,2 or without added nutrients.3 Such variations in the methodologies are partially responsible for the discrepancies encountered in the gene transfer results expressed in Table 1, but these discrepancies may be due to a lack of characterization of the microcosms and standardization of the assays.
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