Reproduction
Life history/Reproduction: Yersinia enterocolitica being prokaryotic organisms reproduce via binary fission, which is an asexual form of reproduction. This results in two genetically identical bacterial cells.
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Plasmids are small circular
pieces of double stranded DNA that replicate autonomously. The
plasmids within Y. enterocolitica code for the
production of the sex pilus and all enzymes necessary for
conjugation. Did I just mention the word sex in accordance to
bacteria?! No you did not read that incorrectly Yersinia enterocolitica
actually undergoes a process called conjugation in which a parental cell
passes DNA to a recipient cell via a sex pilus. (To learn more about
conjugation
click here!) Further, transmission between hosts typically occurs via the fecal oral route.
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