Question

Do bacteria have alleles?

Answer 1

Alleles:

1. Alleles are the different versions or variants of a single gene that represent different physiological effects of the gene.
2. Genes represent the genotype of an organism while alleles denote the phenotype.
3. A diploid organism has two alleles, one from each parent but when considered as a population, there can be multiple alleles for a single gene like the gene of colour coat in rabbits.
4. For example, a gene responsible for eye colour has different alleles that are green eye colour, brown eye colour, blue eye colour, etc.

Bacteria:

1. These are simple unicellular organisms that lack a well-defined nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
2. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Lactobacillus etc. are some examples of bacteria.
3. They have a single set of chromosomes, so as an individual there is only one allele for a particular gene.
4. But the same gene can have multiple alleles in the population.
5. Bacteria have a wide range of genes and so they have alleles and some of them can be multiple alleles.
6. These alleles can denote various distinct traits like virulence, presence of an outer layer of cell wall etc.