Final answer:
When two mobile genetic elements insert near each other, the transposition mechanism can transpose the entire chromosomal segment between them. This process involves transposable elements moving through the action of the enzyme transposase, resulting in genetic diversity or the spread of genes like those for antibiotic resistance.
Step-by-step explanation:
If two mobile genetic elements insert near each other in a chromosome, the transposition mechanism may use the ends of the similar elements, resulting in transposition of the entire segment of the chromosome between the two mobile elements. This process involves transposable elements or 'jumping genes' that can move within a genome and are capable of altering a cell's genotype and possibly its phenotype. Transposable elements include insertion sequences (IS elements) in bacteria and various types of elements in eukaryotes. They move either through a 'cut-and-paste' or a 'replicative' mechanism facilitated by the enzyme transposase. In the instance where elements called composite transposons, or Tn elements, insert close to each other with a segment of DNA between them, they can move together as a unit, potentially carrying genes, such as those conferring antibiotic resistance, to new locations within the genome.