Key points:
- In transformation, a bacterium takes up a piece of DNA floating in its environment.
- In transduction, DNA is accidentally moved from one bacterium to another by a virus.
- In conjugation, DNA is transferred between bacteria through a tube between cells.
- Transposable elements are chunks of DNA that “jump” from one place to another. They can move bacterial genes that give bacteria antibiotic resistance or make them disease-causing.