How do single celled organisms exchange genetic material?

http://paleobiology.si.edu/geotime/main/foundation_life2.html
does this help??

When they split and form two different cells. Each gets a copy of the original DNA. I think this is called mitosis

I’m pretty sure that amoebas reproduce by strict mitosis (making two copies of their DNA and splitting into two daughter cells, all of which are genetically identical (assuming no transcription errors)), so no, they don’t exchange genetic material with other amoeba.

But I imagine an amoeba deciding to split would go something like this:

“Hey, self, baby, you’re some pretty hot stuff. I like you, or, well, me, a whole lot. I think I should get it on with you, self.

“Oh yeah, oh, awesome, lets use some DNA helicase and unzip those genes.

“This is Nasty! I like it! Oh, man, we’re splitting our nucleotides something fierce!

“Oh, looks like that’s over with. Here, let me take half the covers.

“Oh, hey, we are two different people now. How sad the universe is for splitting us apart.

“Or was it by our own volition?”

Yeah, it’d be something like that.

@aphilotus
Is is wrong that I am turned on by that?

@jackm not at all!

@sakura That is helpful. Here’s the relevant passage for those of you stuck on cell division:

“Single-celled organisms usually reproduce asexually, through the process of mitosis, or cell-splitting. Occasionally they may also engage in conjugation, which allows genetic material to be shared between different individuals.” [emphasis mine]

It’s the conjugation process I am interested in.

Yeah, that Conjugation stuff involves a pilus extended to join two cells. Then plasmids are sent over, through the pilus. I’m not sure what causes the event to happen in science terms. I was under the impression this is a bacteria thing.

At a singles-celled bar?