<P> A plasmid is a small DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from a chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently . The term was coined by Lederberg and Hays and shortly discovered by Tatum . They are most commonly found in bacteria as small circular, double - stranded DNA molecules; however, plasmids are sometimes present in archaea and eukaryotic organisms . In nature, plasmids often carry genes that may benefit the survival of the organism, for example antibiotic resistance . While the chromosomes are big and contain all the essential genetic information for living under normal conditions, plasmids usually are very small and contain only additional genes that may be useful to the organism under certain situations or particular conditions . Artificial plasmids are widely used as vectors in molecular cloning, serving to drive the replication of recombinant DNA sequences within host organisms . </P> <P> Plasmids are considered replicons, a unit of DNA capable of replicating autonomously within a suitable host . However, plasmids, like viruses, are not generally classified as life . Plasmids can be transmitted from one bacterium to another (even of another species) via three main mechanisms: transformation, transduction, and conjugation . This host - to - host transfer of genetic material is called horizontal gene transfer, and plasmids can be considered part of the mobilome . Unlike viruses (which encase their genetic material in a protective protein coat called a capsid), plasmids are "naked" DNA and do not encode genes necessary to encase the genetic material for transfer to a new host . However, some classes of plasmids encode the conjugative "sex" pilus necessary for their own transfer . The size of the plasmid varies from 1 to over 200 k bp, and the number of identical plasmids in a single cell can range anywhere from one to thousands under some circumstances . </P> <P> The relationship between microbes and plasmid DNA is neither parasitic nor mutualistic, because each implies the presence of an independent species living in a detrimental or commensal state with the host organism . Rather, plasmids provide a mechanism for horizontal gene transfer within a population of microbes and typically provide a selective advantage under a given environmental state . Plasmids may carry genes that provide resistance to naturally occurring antibiotics in a competitive environmental niche, or the proteins produced may act as toxins under similar circumstances, or allow the organism to utilize particular organic compounds that would be advantageous when nutrients are scarce . </P>

Where are the characteristics of an organism encoded