Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) refers to the transfer of genes between organisms in a manner other than traditional reproduction. Also termed lateral gene transfer (LGT), it contrasts with vertical ...

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a microbial community phenomenon that essentially equates to teaching neighbors how to complete necessary tasks by ripping out and sharing ...

When the human genome was first published, the suggestion that it contained bacterial genes was controversial. Subsequent studies questioned the possibility of HGT, offering alternate explanations for ...

A new study shows that the exchange of genes drives functional changes in bacteria very rapidly. Bacteria integrate genetic material from other bacterial strains more easily than previously thought, ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 116, No. 36 (September 3, 2019), pp. 17906-17915 (10 pages) Bacteria evolve by mutation accumulation in laboratory ...

The genetic gift that encodes the crystals is an unusual case of what’s known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT), an exchange of DNA between organisms, says Sara Branco, a mycologist at Montana State ...

Researchers have discovered a new mode of vertical mother-to-infant microbiome transmission, where microbes in the maternal gut shared genes with microbes in the infant gut during the perinatal period ...

In the microscopic world of bacteria, gene transfer is a powerful mechanism that can alter cellular function, drive antibiotic resistance and even shape entire ecosystems. Now an interdisciplinary ...

The first comprehensive analysis of viral horizontal gene transfer (HGT) illustrates the extent to which viruses pick up genes from their hosts to hone their infection process, while at the same time ...