Generalized Transduction by Lytic Bacteriophage

1. A lytic bacteriophage adsorbs to a susceptible bacterium.
2. The bacteriophage genome enters the bacterium. The genome directs the bacterium's metabolic machinery to manufacture bacteriophage components and enzymes.
3. Occasionally during maturation, a bacteriophage head or capsid assembles around a fragment of donor bacterium's nucleoid or around a plasmid instead of a phage genome by mistake.
4. The bacteriophages are released.
5. The bacteriophage carrying the donor bacterium's DNA adsorbs to a recipient bacterium.
6. The bacteriophage inserts the donor bacterium's DNA it is carrying into the recipient bacterium.
7. The donor bacterium's DNA is exchanged for some of the recipient's DNA.