Use the information in the following paragraph to answer the next few questions.
A hypothetical bacterium swims among human intestinal contents until it finds a suitable location on the intestinal lining. It adheres to the intestinal lining using a feature that also protects it from phagocytes, bacteriophages, and dehydration. Fecal matter from a human in whose intestine this bacterium lives can spread the bacterium, even after being mixed with water and boiled. The bacterium is not susceptible to the penicillin family of antibiotics. It contains no plasmids and relatively little peptidoglycan.
-The cell also lacks F factors and F plasmids. Upon its death, this bacterium should be able to participate in
A) conjugation.
B) transduction.
C) transformation.
D) Three of the responses above are correct.
E) Two of the responses above are correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The bacterium lacks F factors and F plasmids, which are required for conjugation. It also lacks bacteriophages, which are needed for transduction. Therefore, the only possibility for it to participate in horizontal gene transfer is through transformation, where it can take up DNA from the environment.

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