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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli
Published on: March 24, 2023
Horizontal DNA transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes and a lesson from experimental transfers
Katsunori Suzuki1, Kazuki Moriguchi1, Shinji Yamamoto1
1Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Science, Japan.
Abstract:
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is widespread among bacteria and plays a key role in genome dynamics. HGT is much less common in eukaryotes, but is being reported with increasing frequency in eukaryotes. The mechanism as to how eukaryotes acquired genes from distantly related organisms remains obscure yet. This paper cites examples of bacteria-derived genes found in eukaryotic organisms, and then describes experimental DNA transports to eukaryotes by bacterial type 4 secretion systems in optimized conditions. The mechanisms of the latter are efficient, quite reproducible in vitro and predictable, and thereby would provide insight into natural HGT and to the development of new research tools.
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