Transformation and transduction of a large deletion mutation in Bacillus subtilis

Summary Large arsenate sensitive deletion mutations of B. subtilis 168 are transformed to wild type at least 100 times less efficiently than they are transduced by PBS1 phage. The lower transformation efficiency is apparently due to the degradation of the donor DNA by competent cells to fragments ineffective for repair of long deletions. The efficiency of transduction of deletion mutations is also reduced when competent cells, rather than logarithmically growing cells are used as recipients. An endonuclease activity specifically associated with the physiological state of competence is proposed to explain these observation.