Section 1. Technical Approaches of Gene Transfer in Natural Environments.- - Direct Detection of Particular DNA Sequences in Soil.- - Autotrophic Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria in Stratified Eutrophic Lakes: Development of Ribosomal RNA-Directed Oligonucleotide Probes.- - The Detection of Marked Populations of Recombinant Pseudomonads Released into Lake Water.- - Screening of Erythromycin Resistant Bacillus spp. from Aerobiological Samplings for Recombinant DNA.- - Stress and Survival in Alcaligenes eutrophus CH34: Effects of Temperature and Genetic Rearrangements.- Section 2. Aquatic Environments.- - Effect of Host Cell Physiology on Plasmid Transfer in River Epilithon.- - Virus-Mediated Gene Transfer in Freshwater Environments.- - Intergeneric Natural Plasmid Transformation between Escherichia coli and a Marine Vibrio Species.- - Natural Transformation on Agar and in River Epilithon.- Section 3. Soil and Terrestrial Environments.- - Conjugal Gene Transfer in the Soil Environment; New Approaches and Developments.- - Gene Transfer via Transformation in Soil/Sediment Environments.- - DNA Binding to Various Clay Minerals and Retarded Enzymatic Degradation of DNA in a Sand/Clay Microcosm.- - Characterization of Natural Transformation of the Soil Bacteria Pseudomonas stutzeri and Acinetobactercalcoaceticus by Chromosomal and Plasmid DNA.- - The Importance of Retromobilization to Gene Dissemination and the Effect of Heavy Metal Pollution on Retromobilization in Soil.- - Interactions between Actinophage and their Streptomycete Hosts in Soil and the Fate of Phage Borne Genes.- - Assessment of the Potential for Gene Transfer in the Phytosphere of Sugar Beet.- Section 4. Human and Animal Gut.- - Gene Transfer in Human and Animals Gut.- - Conjugal Transfer of Genetic Information in Gnotobiotic Mice.- - In vivo Transfer of a Conjugative Plasmid between Isogenic Escherichia coli Strains in the Gut of Chickens, in the Presence and Absence of Selective Pressure.- - Origin and Spread of Penicillin-Resistance in Neisseria meningitidis.- Section 5. Genetically Engineered Microorganisms.- - Release of Genetically Modified Microorganisms in Natural Environments: Scientific and Ethical Problems.- - Development of Sensitive Techniques Based on DNA Probes and PCR-Amplification, for the Study of the Survival and Genetic Stability of Lactococcus spp. in the Environment and the Gastrointestinal Tract.
