Theory that meiosis evolved from bacterial sex(transformation)

In prokaryotic sex, DNA from one bacterium is released into the surrounding medium, is then taken up by another bacterium and its information integrated into the DNA of the recipient bacterium. This process is called transformation. One theory on how meiosis arose is that it evolved from transformation. By this view, the evolutionary transition from prokaryotic sex to eukaryotic sex was continuous.
   Transformation, like meiosis, is a complex process requiring the function of numerous gene products. The ability to undergo natural transformation among bacterial species is widespread. At least 67 prokaryote species (in seven different phyla) are known to be competent for transformation. A key similarity between bacterial sex and eukaryotic sex is that DNA originating from two different individuals (parents) join up so that homologous sequences are aligned with each other, and this is followed by exchange of genetic information (a process called genetic recombination). After the new recombinant chromosome is formed it is passed on to progeny.
    When genetic recombination occurs between DNA molecules originating from different parents, the recombination process is catalyzed in prokaryotes and eukaryotes by enzymes that have similar functions and that are evolutionarily related. One of the most important enzymes catalyzing this process in bacteria is referred to as RecA, and this enzyme has two functionally similar counterparts that act in eukaryotic meiosis, Rad51 and Dmc1.
     Support for the theory that meiosis arose from bacterial transformation comes from the increasing evidence that early diverging lineages of eukaryotes have the core genes for meiosis. This implies that the precursor to meiosis was already present in the bacterial ancestor of eukaryotes. For instance the common intestinal parasite Giardia intestinalis, a simple eukaryotic protozoan was, until recently, thought to be descended from an early diverging eukaryotic lineage that lacked sex. However, it has since been shown that G. intestinalis contains within its genome a core set of genes that function in meiosis, including five genes that function only in meiosis. In addition, G. intestinalis was recently found to undergo a specialized, sex-like process involving meiosis gene homologs. This evidence, and other similar examples, suggest that a primitive form of meiosis, was present in the common ancestor of all eukaryotes, an ancestor that arose from antecedent bacteria.