Final answer:
Conjugation is the most likely method to confer antibiotic resistance between bacteria, as it involves the direct transfer of DNA, possibly plasmids carrying resistance genes, between cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the methods of DNA exchange between bacteria, conjugation is most likely to confer antibiotic resistance to the recipient bacteria. In conjugation, DNA is directly transferred from one prokaryote to another through a conjugation pilus, a process that often involves the transfer of plasmids carrying antibiotic resistance genes. This method can result in the recipient bacterium acquiring new genetic traits, such as antibiotic resistance, that can be immediately functional because the whole gene is transferred and incorporated.
Transformation involves the uptake of DNA from the environment, which can also potentially include antibiotic resistance genes, but is less directed and predictable as a means of DNA exchange. Transduction, which involves the transfer of DNA from one bacterium to another via bacteriophages, can also carry antibiotic resistance genes, though it is typically a random process as to what DNA is transferred. Replication and binary fission are not methods of DNA exchange between bacteria but are processes of bacterial reproduction and DNA duplication, respectively.