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Updated: Sep 30, 2025

Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer Mediated by Natural Conjugative Plasmids in E. coli
Published on: March 24, 2023
Recombination resolves the cost of horizontal gene transfer in experimental populations of Helicobacter pylori
An N T Nguyen1, Laura C Woods1, Rebecca Gorrell2,3,4
1School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 300, Australia.
Abstract:
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is important for microbial evolution, yet we know little about the fitness effects and dynamics of horizontally transferred genetic variants. In this study, we evolve laboratory populations of Helicobacter pylori, which take up DNA from their environment by natural transformation, and measure the fitness effects of thousands of transferred genetic variants. We find that natural transformation increases the rate of adaptation but comes at the cost of significant genetic load. We show that this cost is circumvented by recombination, which increases the efficiency of selection by decoupling deleterious and beneficial genetic variants. Our results show that adaptation with HGT, pervasive in natural microbial populations, is shaped by a combination of selection, recombination, and genetic drift not accounted for in existing models of evolution.
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