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Updated: May 6, 2026

Methodology for the Study of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Staphylococcus aureus
Published on: March 10, 2017
A compendium of horizontal gene transfers in Metazoa
Johnathan A Spaulding1, Janna L Fierst2
1Biomolecular Sciences Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 11200 8th Street, 33199, Miami, FL, USA. jspau006@fiu.edu.
Abstract:
With more eukaryotic genomes available for study researchers have been able to identify a growing number of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) candidates. We compiled 9,495 protein coding genes that were identified as horizontally transferred to metazoan hosts in the published literature. This dataset contains gene transfers from bacteria, fungi, archaea and protists to metazoans. We assigned a confidence score to each gene based on the methods used in the scientific paper reporting HGT. All the coding sequences and protein sequences for the HGT genes are stored in a fig share repository. This dataset can be used to identify trends in genome and protein evolution and provide a foundation for creating a centralized HGT database for eukaryotes.
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