How Are Species of Asexual Reproducers Defined?
Genetic mutations are the raw material of genetic change, the differences between all living things ultimately started with mistakes when the genetic code was copied within a dividing cell. But asexually reproducing organisms are much trickier to classify into distinct species, since the definition, “Organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring” can’t be used, since they don’t breed. Genetic Promiscuity of Bacteria Bacteria are a great example. These prokaryotic cells divide to reproduce, making clones, like all asexual reproducers. But bacteria are also genetically promiscuous. They share their genes with other bacteria in unusual ways, collectively known as horizontal gene transfer. Types of Horizontal Gene Transfer Sometimes one bacterium can hook up to another and transfer a few genes to the recipient bacteria, a process called conjugation. In other instances, bacteria can absorb naked DNA that they find floating in the environment, a process called transformation. Even m
