Compare and contrast binary fission and conjugation. Which process increases genetic diversity?

-Binary fission is the form of asexual reproduction and cell division used by prokaryotic organisms (such as bacteria or archea). A prokaryotic cell by divides into two parts, and each half has the potential to grow to the size of the original cell.

-Bacterial conjugation is the transfer of genetic material between bacteria through direct cell-to-cell contact. It is merely the transfer of genetic information from a donor cell to a recipient. In order to perform conjugation, one of the bacteria, the donor, must play host to a conjugative or mobilizable genetic element, most often a conjugative or mobilizable plasmid or transposon. Most conjugative plasmids have systems ensuring that the recipient cell does not already contain a similar element.

Binary Fission - asexual

Conjugation - sexual

It's pretty confusing at the least really.