nucleic acid delivery nucleic acid conjugation nucl conjugation PSI-MI Bacterial conjugation is the transfer of genetic material between bacteria through cell-to-cell contact. Bacterial conjugation is often incorrectly regarded as the bacterial equivalent of sexual reproduction or mating. It is not actually sexual, as it does not involve the fusing of gametes and the creation of a zygote. It is merely the transfer of a conjugative plasmid from a donor cell to a recipient MI:0715