<unk>  is the transfer of genetic material between<unk> through direct cell-to-cell contact. Discovered in 1946 by Joshua Lederberg and Edward Tatum,<unk>  is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer—as are transformation and transduction—although these mechanisms do not involve cell-to-cell contact.<unk>  is often incorrectly regarded as the<unk>  equivalent of sexual reproduction or mating. It is not actually sexual, as it does not involve the fusing of gametes and the creation of a zygote, nor is there equal exchange of genetic material. It is merely the transfer of genetic information from a donor cell to a recipient. In order to perform<unk> , one of the<unk>  the donor, must play host to a conjugative or mobilizable genetic element, most often a conjugative or mobilizable plasmid or transposon. Most conjugative plasmids have systems ensuring that the recipient cell does not already contain a similar element.
The genetic information transferred is often beneficial to the recipient cell. Benefits may include antibiotic resistance, other xenobiotic tolerance, or the ability to utilize a new metabolite. Such beneficial plasmids may be considered<unk>  endosymbionts. Some conjugative elements may also be viewed as genetic parasites on the bacterium, and<unk>  as a mechanism was evolved by the mobile element to spread itself into new hosts.
Bacterial conjugation
Thermal depolymerization
Carrier generation and recombination
Evolution of flagella
Chemical modification
Ethanol fermentation
Ligase chain reaction
Reverse transcription