<prompt> Which of the following method is adopted by a bacteria to spread its ability of resistance to multiple drugs?TransformationTransductionMutationConjugation  <response>: Conjugation, as the name implies, is gene transfer by direct cell-to-cell contact through a sex pilus or bridge. This complex mechanism for the spread of antibiotic resistance is extremely impoant because multiple resistance genes can be transferred in a single event. The transferable genetic material consists of two different sets of plasmid-encoded genes that may be on the same or different plasmids. One set encodes the actual resistance; the second encodes genes necessary for the bacterial conjugation process. Ref: Gumbo T. 2011. Chapter 48. General Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy. In L.L. Brunton, B.A. Chabner, B.C. Knollmann Eds, Goodman Gilmans The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 12e. 