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An exogenote is a piece of donor DNA that is involved in the mating of prokaryotic organisms.[1]
Transferred DNA of Hfr (high frequency of recombination) is called exogenote and homologous part of F (fertility factor) genophore is called endogenote. An exogenote is genetic material that is released into the environment by prokaryotic cells, usually upon their lysis.[citation needed] This exogenous genetic material is then free to be taken up by other competent bacteria, and used as a template for protein synthesis or broken down for its molecules to be used elsewhere in the cell. Taking up genetic material into the cell from the surrounding environment is a form of bacterial transformation.[citation needed] Exogenotes can also be transferred directly from donor to recipient bacteria as an F'-plasmid in a process known as bacterial conjugation.[citation needed] F'-plasmids only form if the F+ factor is incorrectly translated, and results in a small amount of donor DNA erroneously transferring to the recipient with very high efficiency.[citation needed]