What is a major source of genetic variation for bacteria and viruses?

Question

HELP MEE pls..

Answer 1

i can't remember everything from genetice but unlike the previous answerers it's not just mutations. bacteria have there genes in a circular form. They sometimes can actually take in DNA from other bacteria. The DNA can integrate into their own circular DNA strands. Viruses inject their RNA strands into the host bacteria. Their genetic information becomes part of the host genetic code, where it is replicated along with the normal bacterial genes and forms more viruses. sometimes part of the bacterial DNA gets taken up into the newly formed viruses, which accounts for more genetic variation of the viruses.

Answer 2

Most likely mutation...

Can also be due to conjugation where one bacteria passes part of its genome to another bacteria through a sex pilus. If the acceptor bacteria have the same gene as the transferred gene, recombination may take place (like between homologus chromosomes in some eukaryotes) -> leading to greater genetic variation in bacteria...

For viruses, it think it is mainly mutation...since they are not known to have any genetic material exchange although different types of viruses may fuse to produce hybrid virus

Answer 3

The major source of genetic variation is mutation. The reason is that viruses and bacteria and bacteria reproduce asexually, so there's no recombination; so all variation must come from mutation. However, in bacteria there is also conjugation, the transfer of genes through sex pili, transformation, the uptake of naked DNA from its environment, and transduction, the transfer of DNA through viral vectors.

Answer 4

mutations