Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Patterns of bacterial gene movement.

Weilong Hao1, G B Golding

  • 1Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Molecular Biology and Evolution
|April 30, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Lateral gene transfer significantly impacts bacterial evolution, with gene insertions often outweighing deletions. Many foreign gene insertions are organism-specific and lost before species evolve, maintaining stable genome sizes.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Transcriptomic Analysis of Phylloclade in <i>Ruscus aculeatus</i> Is Consistent with Unifacial Morphology.

Plants (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Transcriptome analyses of leaf architecture in <i>Sansevieria</i> support a common genetic toolkit in the parallel evolution of unifacial leaves in monocots.

Plant direct·2023
Same author

Cloud and snow detection of remote sensing images based on improved Unet3.

Scientific reports·2022
Same author

Reconstruction of gene innovation associated with major evolutionary transitions in the kingdom Fungi.

BMC biology·2022
Same author

From Genome Variation to Molecular Mechanisms: What we Have Learned From Yeast Mitochondrial Genomes?

Frontiers in microbiology·2022
Same author

Variable Spontaneous Mutation and Loss of Heterozygosity among Heterozygous Genomes in Yeast.

Molecular biology and evolution·2020

Area of Science:

  • Microbial genomics and evolutionary biology
  • Bacterial genetics and adaptation

Background:

  • Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is a key driver of bacterial genome evolution.
  • Understanding gene insertion and deletion dynamics is crucial for deciphering bacterial adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the patterns of gene insertion, deletion, and duplication in bacterial genomes.
  • To detect laterally transferred genes by analyzing atypical gene occurrences across related bacterial species.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative genomics analysis of 50 complete bacterial genomes from nine distinct groups.
  • Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA and protein similarity to map gene content changes.
  • Simulations of gene insertion and deletion processes tailored to specific bacterial phylogenies.

Main Results:

  • Poor correlation observed between gene gain/loss events and evolutionary branch lengths.
  • Gene insertion events, particularly foreign gene insertions, are more frequent in external phylogenetic branches.
  • Insertions significantly outnumber deletions, yet bacterial genome sizes remain relatively constant.

Conclusions:

  • Many gene insertions are transient and organism-specific, lost before speciation.
  • Bacterial genome size stability is maintained through a balance of gene gain and loss mechanisms.
  • LGT plays a dynamic role in bacterial evolution, with rapid turnover of some genetic material.

Related Experiment Videos