transduction occurs when a prophage excises imprecisely from the chromosome so that bacterial genes lying adjacent to it are included in the excised DNA. The excised DNA along with the viral DNA is then packaged into a new virus particle, which is then delivered to a new bacterium when the phage attacks new bacterium. Here, the donor genes can be inserted into the recipient chromosome or remain in the cytoplasm, depending on the nature of the bacteriophage.

An example of specialized transduction is ? phage