Bacterial Conjugation
Conjugation is the direct transfer of DNA from one bacterial cell to another bacterial cell. The transferred DNA is a plasmid, a circle of DNA that is distinct from the main bacterial chromosome. The F plasmid is similar to a virus or a transposon in its ability to move independently of the main chromosome. The transfer of the plasmid take advantage of the complementary nature of double stranded DNA. One strand of the plasmid is transferred and the other remains in the original cell. Both strands have the complementary stranded added so that each cell ends up with a complete plasmid.