As most microbes reproduce asexually, "species" are defined by differences in their DNA sequences. when the genome of soil microbe a is analyzed, long stretches of genes from multiple species of other soil microbial species are discovered. This indicates that the microbes present in the soil underwent transformation and transfection. Transformation, shown in the image, is the process of the prokaryotic nucleus taking up the foreign DNA from other microbes present in the environment. Tranfection is like transformation but for the eukaryotic cells.
