Abstract
A strategy is described that enables the in situ detection of natural transformation in Acinetobacter baylyi BD413 by the expression of a green fluorescent protein. Microscale detection of bacterial transformants growing on plant tissues was shown by fluorescence microscopy and indicated that cultivation-based selection of transformants on antibiotic-containing agar plates underestimates transformation frequencies. Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.