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Related Concept Videos

Horizontal Gene Transfer01:27

Horizontal Gene Transfer

46
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:...
46
Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms02:18

Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms

28.9K
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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Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes03:21

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

8.0K
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.
8.0K
Conjugation01:19

Conjugation

37
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...
37
Transduction01:16

Transduction

49
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...
49
Gene Duplication and Divergence02:37

Gene Duplication and Divergence

6.2K
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.
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are...
6.2K

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 29, 2025

High-Resolution Comparison of Bacterial Conjugation Frequencies
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High-Resolution Comparison of Bacterial Conjugation Frequencies

Published on: January 10, 2019

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Empirical Evidence That Complexity Limits Horizontal Gene Transfer.

Christina L Burch, Artur Romanchuk1, Michael Kelly

  • 1Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Genome Biology and Evolution
|May 26, 2023
PubMed
Summary

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in bacteria decreases with gene connectivity and ortholog divergence. The complexity hypothesis best explains these findings, highlighting HGT

Keywords:
bacteriaevolutionexperimentgenetic exchangerecombination

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genomics
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) significantly drives bacterial genome evolution, creating diversity and enabling new traits.
  • Gene transferability varies, potentially linked to protein interaction networks (connectivity).
  • Two hypotheses, complexity and balance, propose reasons for decreased transferability with increased connectivity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess genome-wide the complexity and balance hypotheses regarding HGT rates.
  • To investigate the relationship between gene connectivity, ortholog divergence, and transferability in prokaryotes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized 74 prokaryotic whole genome shotgun libraries.
  • Estimated horizontal gene transfer rates into Escherichia coli from diverse prokaryotic donors.
  • Analyzed gene transferability in relation to gene connectivity and ortholog divergence.

Main Results:

  • Gene transferability decreases as connectivity increases.
  • Transferability declines with greater divergence between donor and recipient orthologs.
  • The negative impact of divergence on transferability is amplified by higher connectivity.

Conclusions:

  • Gene connectivity and ortholog divergence negatively impact HGT rates.
  • The complexity hypothesis successfully explains the observed relationships between transferability, connectivity, and divergence.
  • The balance hypothesis only explains the reduced transferability with increased connectivity.