Explain the significance of a member of the normal microbiota that harbours an r plasmid.

That microbe can potentially transfer the R plasmid to a member of the normal microbiota.

Explanation:

Plasmids are extrachromosomal circular DNA molecules. They have the ability to replicate independently and generally have few genes. It is worth noting that in a cell several copies of plasmids can be found and that they are frequently transferred from one cell to another. Thus, we can conclude that a microbe can potentially transfer the R plasmid to a member of the normal microbiota.

Plasmids generally have genetic information that is not extremely essential for the survival of the bacteria, but they are usually related to some adaptive function for special situations. As an example, we can mention those plasmids that guarantee resistance to antibiotics and those that increase the probability that a bacterial cell will cause some disease.