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Related Concept Videos

Horizontal Gene Transfer01:27

Horizontal Gene Transfer

671
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:...
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Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms02:18

Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms

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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.
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Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms02:18

Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms

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Transduction01:16

Transduction

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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...
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Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes03:21

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

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While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major factor that impacts genome size is whether the organism is prokaryotic or eukaryotic. In prokaryotes, the genome contains little to no non-coding sequence, such that genes are tightly clustered in groups or operons sequentially along the chromosome. Conversely, the genes in eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of non-coding sequence.
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Conjugation01:19

Conjugation

1.4K
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...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 9, 2025

Methodology for the Study of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Staphylococcus aureus
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Examining horizontal gene transfer in microbial communities.

Ilana Lauren Brito1

  • 1Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. ibrito@cornell.edu.

Nature Reviews. Microbiology
|April 13, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Bacteria gain new DNA via horizontal gene transfer (HGT), aiding adaptation and host interaction. New computational and experimental methods reveal HGT

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Genetics
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Bacteria acquire DNA through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), enabling adaptation and altering host interactions.
  • A gap exists between laboratory findings and natural HGT processes, particularly in the human gut microbiome.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review new computational and experimental technologies for studying HGT in natural microbial communities.
  • To explore the extent, dynamics, and ecological factors influencing HGT in microbiomes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing newly available computational algorithms.
  • Employing novel experimental approaches.
  • Analyzing selective pressures on mobile genetic elements and their interaction with bacterial genomes.

Main Results:

  • Gaining a broader understanding of genes transferred via HGT.
  • Beginning to understand the ecology of HGT in natural microbial communities.
  • Recognizing the full extent and punctuated dynamics of HGT in response to stimuli.

Conclusions:

  • New technologies are improving our understanding of bacterial HGT in natural environments.
  • HGT plays a significant role in microbial adaptation and evolution within microbiomes.
  • Further research is needed to fully characterize the selective pressures and mechanisms governing HGT.