<prompt> Please answer with one of the option in the bracket. Write reasoning in between . Write answer in between .Q:An investigator studying mechanisms of acquired antibiotic resistance in bacteria conducts a study using isolated strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The E. coli strain harbors plasmid pRK212.1, which conveys resistance to kanamycin. The S. aureus strain is susceptible to kanamycin. Both bacterial strains are mixed in a liquid growth medium containing deoxyribonuclease. After incubation for 2 days and subsequent transfer to a solid medium, the S. aureus colonies show no lysis in response to the application of kanamycin. Analysis of chromosomal DNA from the kanamycin-resistant S. aureus strain does not reveal the kanamycin-resistance gene. Which of the following mechanisms is most likely responsible for this finding?? A: Transformation, B: Conjugation, C: Transposition, D: Secretion, E: Transduction,  <response>: This is a question about mechanisms of acquired antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The setup describes two bacterial strains - E. coli harboring a kanamycin resistance plasmid, and initially kanamycin-susceptible S. aureus. After incubating the two strains together, the S. aureus becomes resistant to kanamycin, but the resistance gene is not found in its chromosome. This implies that S. aureus acquired resistance through one of the horizontal gene transfer mechanisms. The options describe different mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria - transformation uptake of naked DNA, conjugation transfer via direct cell contact, transposition via transposons, secretion not a mechanism for gene transfer, and transduction via bacteriophages. Of these, conjugation and transduction could transfer the plasmid-borne resistance from E. coli to S. aureus. Since a plasmid is specified and bacteriophages were not mentioned, conjugation is the most likely mechanism.B: Conjugation 