Question

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are becoming an increasing problem. Some bacteria that were once killed by common antibiotics have acquired the ability to survive in the presence of those antibiotics. How can bacteria acquire antibiotic resistance?

Answer 1

Answer: Transformation, Conjugation, and Transposons/Integrons

Explanation:

Transformation: Bacteria can take up naked DNA encoding for resistance native to similar species and incorporate it into their genome.

Conjugation: Plasmids are accessory circular DNA fragments that can be passed from one bacterium to another. If they contain a gene coding for resistance then it can spread rapidly when bacteria share the same environment.

Transposons: Moveable genetic elements able to encode their own transmission that may contain genetic information for resistance. They're able to move between the chromosome and plasmids and between bacteria.