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Related Concept Videos

Horizontal Gene Transfer01:27

Horizontal Gene Transfer

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a process where genetic material moves between organisms within the same generation, unlike vertical gene transfer, which occurs from parent to offspring. HGT plays a crucial role in microbial evolution, adaptation, and survival, particularly in shared environments like the human gut.Mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, prophages, integrons, insertion sequences, and transposons facilitate this process. HGT occurs through three primary mechanisms:...
Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms02:18

Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms

Genetic transfer occurs when genetic information is passed from one organism to another. It occurs via two mechanisms: vertical gene transfer and horizontal gene transfer. Vertical gene transfer occurs when genetic information is transferred from one generation to the next, which happens much more frequently than horizontal gene transfer. Both sexual and asexual reproduction are forms of vertical gene transfer, where one or more organisms pass some or all of their genome onto their progeny.
Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms02:18

Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms

Genetic transfer occurs when genetic information is passed from one organism to another. It occurs via two mechanisms: vertical gene transfer and horizontal gene transfer. Vertical gene transfer occurs when genetic information is transferred from one generation to the next, which happens much more frequently than horizontal gene transfer. Both sexual and asexual reproduction are forms of vertical gene transfer, where one or more organisms pass some or all of their genome onto their progeny.
Conjugation01:19

Conjugation

Conjugation is a form of horizontal gene transfer that primarily occurs in bacteria and some archaea, promoting genetic diversity and adaptation. Bacteria can acquire resistance genes through conjugative plasmids, allowing them to survive antibiotic treatments that would otherwise be lethal. This process involves direct contact between cells through specialized structures such as the sex pilus and is mediated by conjugative plasmids, including the F (fertility) factor.Conjugation requires...
Transduction01:16

Transduction

Among the three main modes of HGT—transformation, conjugation, and transduction—transduction is unique in that it is mediated by bacteriophages, or bacterial viruses.Transduction occurs in two ways. Generalized transduction occurs during the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage infection. In this process, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells, replicate within them, and ultimately cause cell lysis, releasing newly assembled virions. Occasionally, random fragments of the bacterial genome are...
Modern Molecular Taxonomy01:29

Modern Molecular Taxonomy

Advancements in molecular biology have revolutionized the identification and characterization of bacteria, with multiple methods leveraging DNA sequencing for enhanced precision. As sequencing technologies improve and costs decline, these approaches are increasingly used in clinical, environmental, and evolutionary studies.Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) examines several housekeeping genes, essential chromosomal genes encoding cellular functions, to distinguish strains. Approximately...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli
06:56

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli

Published on: March 24, 2023

Composition-based methods to identify horizontal gene transfer.

Diego Cortez1, Luis Delaye, Antonio Lazcano

  • 1Unité de Biologie Moléculaire du Gène chez Extremophiles Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|March 10, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study evaluates methods for detecting horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in bacteria. The first-order Markov model (MM) demonstrated superior accuracy in identifying HGT events in Escherichia coli, revealing significant environmental adaptation through gene acquisition.

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Methodology for the Study of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Staphylococcus aureus
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Conjugative Mating Assays for Sequence-specific Analysis of Transfer Proteins Involved in Bacterial Conjugation
10:41

Conjugative Mating Assays for Sequence-specific Analysis of Transfer Proteins Involved in Bacterial Conjugation

Published on: January 4, 2017

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Genomics
  • Bioinformatics

Background:

  • Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is crucial for bacterial evolution and adaptation.
  • Accurate detection of HGT events is essential for understanding microbial genomics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To theoretically analyze and compare the efficiency of four common HGT detection methodologies.
  • To evaluate the performance of these methods using an in silico dataset of foreign genes in Escherichia coli K12 MG1655.

Main Methods:

  • In silico addition of foreign prokaryotic genes into the E. coli K12 MG1655 genome.
  • Testing four HGT detection methods: codon adaptation index/GC percentage (CAI/GC), distributional profile (DP), Bayesian model (BM), and first-order Markov model (MM).

Main Results:

  • All tested HGT detection methods showed limitations.
  • The Bayesian model (BM) and first-order Markov model (MM) provided better approximations.
  • The MM exhibited a higher detection rate for genes from closely related organisms.
  • Application of MM to E. coli K12 MG1655 revealed significant HGT events with environmental interaction functions.

Conclusions:

  • The first-order Markov model (MM) is a more accurate method for detecting horizontal gene transfer.
  • Escherichia coli K12 MG1655 has acquired numerous genes through HGT, contributing to its environmental interactions and adaptation.