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Updated: Jul 18, 2025
11:22
Microbiota Analysis Using Two-step PCR and Next-generation 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing
Published on: October 15, 2019
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Profiling novel lateral gene transfer events in the human microbiome
Tiffany Y Hsu1, Etienne Nzabarushimana1,2, Dennis Wong3
1Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|August 23, 2023
Summary
Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is a key driver of microbial genome evolution. Our new method, WAAFLE, reveals over 100,000 novel LGT events in the human microbiome, suggesting LGT is more common than previously thought.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genomics
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Lateral gene transfer (LGT) drives microbial genome diversification.
- Understanding LGT in complex human microbiomes is limited by a lack of computational tools.
Approach:
- Developed and validated WAAFLE, a computational method for detecting and quantifying novel LGT events from assembled metagenomes.
- Applied WAAFLE to over 2,000 human metagenomes across diverse body sites.
Key Points:
- Identified over 100,000 novel LGT events, averaging approximately two per microbial genome equivalent.
- Detected enrichment of mobile elements and functions related to foreign DNA defense.
- Quantified LGT frequency influenced by biogeography, taxon phylogeny, and donor abundance, revealing LGT networks.
Conclusions:
- LGT is a more pervasive process in the human microbiome than previously recognized.
- WAAFLE provides a robust tool for profiling LGT in microbial communities.
- Findings highlight the dynamic nature of microbial genome evolution within the human body.
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