some questions on bacterial conjugation

[linneaha]

Hi, I need answers to some random questions on an experiment about triparental conjugation - it's hard to find explanations which don't require university education.

I'd like to know how the replication of the plasmid works when it is transferred (i know about the rolling-circle-replication and the basic principle, but i couldn't find much about the function of the nic/bom-site and the mobilisation protein)

I also need a little more information about the transposition of genes (again, I know the basics)

How can Pseudomonas aeruginosa survive without sugar (meaning, how exactly does the metabolising of amino acids work? which ones can it metabolise?)

If a fertility plasmid has initiated conjugation and has been transferred, can the mobilisable plasmid just be transferred into the recipient afterwards or is there anything else it has to do?

I would be extremely grateful if you could take the time to explain this to me, thanks in advance

[CharonY]

The precise molecular mechanism of plasmid replication is a bit complicated and would require a serious write-up that I won't be able to do quickly. But what I can answer quickly is the use of sugars, I am not sure of P. aeruginosa specifically, but most bacteria have various amino acid degradation pathways that enter the TCA cycle at various points. I believe P. aeruginosa primarily uses alanine and glutamine that directly enters as pyruvate or alpha-ketogluterate, respectively. But P. aeruginosa is also well known to utilize quite a variety of C sources including e.g. acetate or citrate.