What is the process of bacterial transduction?

Transduction is the process by which a virus transfers genetic material from one bacterium to another. Viruses known as bacteriophages, use the process of transduction to create more viruses by infecting bacterial cells. Molecular biologists commonly use transduction as a tool in genetic engineering to transfer genetic information from one bacterium to another via a virus. In this process, there is no direct contact between the donor and the host bacteria. 

The process of bacterial transduction involves multiple steps:

1. A bacterial cell wall is infected by a bacteriophage (virus). 
2. Inside the host cell, the bacteriophage reproduces either directly via the lytic cycle or indirectly via the lysogenic cycle first and then the lytic stage. 
3. As the bacteriophages are being assembled, bacterial DNA may inadvertently get packaged along with the viral genome into the viral head. During the excision of the prophage in the lysogenic cycle, some bacterial genome 
4. These viruses can subsequently infect additional bacterial cells, introducing both the viral DNA as well as the donor DNA, into the host cell. 
5. Depending on the bacterial DNA and the bacteriophages, the bacterial DNA can either become integrated into the recipient DNA or it can form plasmids.