Bacterial recombination is a type of genetic recombination in bacteria  characterized by DNA transfer from one organism called donor to another organism as recipient. This process occurs in three main ways:
* Transformation, the uptake of exogenous DNA from the surrounding environment.
* Transduction, the virus-mediated transfer of DNA between bacteria.
* Conjugation, the transfer of DNA from one bacterium to another via cell-to-cell contact.
The final result of conjugation, transduction, and/or transformation is the production of genetic recombinants,  individuals that carry not only the genes they inherited from their parent cells but also the genes introduced to their genomes by conjugation, transduction, and/or transformation.
Recombination in bacteria is ordinarily catalyzed by a RecA type of recombinase. These recombinases promote repair of DNA damages by homologous recombination.
The ability to undergo natural transformation is present in at least 67 bacterial species.  Natural transformation is common among pathogenic bacterial species.  In some cases, the DNA repair capability provided by recombination during transformation facilitates survival of the infecting bacterial pathogen.  Bacterial transformation is carried out by numerous interacting bacterial gene products.