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Horizontal Gene Transfer in Eukaryotes: Not if, but How Much?
Julia Van Etten1, Debashish Bhattacharya2
1Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
Trends in Genetics : TIG
|October 5, 2020
Summary
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is significant in microbial eukaryotes, unlike in prokaryotes. New genomic data reveal HGT facilitates adaptive functions and major evolutionary transitions.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genomics
- Microbial Ecology
Background:
- Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is well-established in prokaryotes due to simpler genomes.
- Studying HGT in eukaryotes has been challenging due to large, complex genomes.
- Recent advancements in high-quality eukaryotic genome data are enabling new HGT research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role and impact of HGT in microbial eukaryotes.
- To provide evidence for HGT facilitating adaptive evolution in eukaryotes.
- To explore HGT's contribution to major lifestyle transitions in microbial eukaryotes.
Main Methods:
- Comparative genomics analysis of microbial eukaryotic genomes.
- Bioinformatic approaches to identify gene transfer events.
- Phylogenetic analysis to trace the origin of transferred genes.
Main Results:
- HGT occurs in microbial eukaryotes, though at a lower frequency than in prokaryotes.
- Identified instances where HGT provided novel adaptive functions.
- Documented cases where HGT underpinned significant shifts in eukaryotic lifestyles.
Conclusions:
- HGT is a minor but evolutionarily significant factor in microbial eukaryotes.
- Genomic data availability is crucial for understanding eukaryotic HGT.
- HGT contributes to eukaryotic adaptation and diversification.
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