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Related Concept Videos

Horizontal Gene Transfer01:27

Horizontal Gene Transfer

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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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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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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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The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
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The seminal work of Ohno in 1970 popularized the idea of gene duplication and divergence. DNA sequence comparison studies reveal that a large portion of the genes in bacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes was  generated by gene duplication and divergence, indicating its critical role in evolution.
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Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
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Analysis of LINE-1 Retrotransposition at the Single Nucleus Level
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Relative Time Inference Using Lateral Gene Transfers.

Adrián A Davín1, Dominik Schrempf2, Tom A Williams3

  • 1Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|September 9, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) allows organisms to gain new DNA, offering evolutionary advantages. This study explores how LGT events can also reveal species divergence times, aiding evolutionary reconstruction.

Keywords:
DatingEvolutionLateral gene transferPhylogenyReconciliation

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genetics
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Organisms can incorporate external DNA via lateral gene transfer (LGT).
  • LGT provides benefits like antibiotic resistance and expanded metabolic capabilities.
  • LGT has traditionally complicated phylogenetic analyses by obscuring species relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the utility of lateral gene transfer (LGT) events as a data source for evolutionary studies.
  • To explore how LGT can inform the reconstruction of species divergence times and phylogenetic trees.
  • To assess the potential of LGT for absolute dating of evolutionary events when correlated with fossil data.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of genomic data to identify instances of lateral gene transfer.
  • Phylogenetic methods to reconstruct evolutionary relationships.
  • Comparative genomics to infer donor-recipient lineage divergence.

Main Results:

  • Lateral gene transfer events contain valuable information about the relative divergence times of donor and recipient lineages.
  • LGT can be used to infer the order of clade divergence, complementing traditional phylogenetic methods.
  • The integration of LGT data offers a novel approach to understanding evolutionary history.

Conclusions:

  • Lateral gene transfer is a significant evolutionary mechanism with implications beyond gene acquisition.
  • LGT provides a unique and largely untapped resource for determining species divergence order.
  • Future research can leverage LGT for more accurate evolutionary timelines, potentially including absolute dating through fossil records.