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Microbiology · Chapter 7

Conjugation: Spreading Resistance Cell to Cell

Antibiotic resistance doesn’t only pass from parent to daughter — one bacterium can hand a whole resistance kit to a neighbour just by touching it. Step through conjugation to watch a donor copy its R-plasmid into a susceptible cell and turn it into a new resistant donor.

Two cells meet

Press Next to walk through conjugation — or tap a step marker.
Conjugationpress Next to begin
Donor · F+
R-plasmid ✓
resistant ✓
Recipient · F−
no plasmid
susceptible ✗