Conjugation, transduction, and transformation all occur in nature

Question

Which do you expect would more likely account for the acquisition of the genes for resistance to an antibiotic? Why? Which do you think would best account for the acquisition of genes from one bacterial species by another of a different genus? Why?

Answer 1

Through the process of lateral gene transfer, genes located on a circular strand of DNA called an R plasmid contain antibiotic-resistant genes. Through conjugation, an antibiotic-resistant bacterium can transfer the R plasmid to a non-resistant bacterium. Because this R plasmid provides a selective growth advantage to some bacteria, those bacteria may "collect" many copies of various antibiotic resistance genes from other bacteria.
Transfer of genes between bacterial species likely involves transformation, the process by which extracellular fragments of DNA released when a donor bacterial cell lyses can be absorbed across the cell membrane of a competent recipient cell as transforming DNA.
Specialized transduction involves bacteriophages, which can transfer host DNA from one host to the next through aberrant excision of a lysogenic prophage. However, it is more likely that gene transfer between species occurred through transformation rather than transduction.