Questions tagged [horizontal-gene-transfer]

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Is there a measure for degree of reticulation in a phylogenetic network?

When working with phylogenetic networks, how does one talk about reticulate (i.e., web-like) the branches are? Is there a standard measure of this?
Namenlos's user avatar
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How taking up plasmids on heat shock evolutionary advantageous to bacteria?

During the transformation protocol we apply heat shock to bacteria to make them take up plasmids from their environment. It is really useful in the lab. However, it presents an evolutionary paradox ...
atevm's user avatar
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Why is it beneficial for bacteria to conjugate? (Horisontal gene transfer)

Why is it beneficial for bacteria to conjugate? I would think it's more beneficial to take a plasmid from another cell, than to give yours away or "share". Not homework, I'm just curious.
Thale Mathiassen's user avatar
6 votes
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determining horizontal gene transfer between two genomes?

I want to determine if there is horizontal gene transfer between two genomes, in particular I was to use the parametric methods described in wikipedia since I would most likely struggle to understand ...
Ro Siv's user avatar
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Do archaea undergo the same horizontal gene transfer processes as bacteria?

Do archaea also undergo processes like conjugation, trasformation, etc.? If not, do they have their own horizontal gene transfer methods? Can bacteria conjugate with archaea?
Anakhand's user avatar
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Why Hfr cells are called high frequency recombination cells?

I understand that Hfr cells are formed when fragment of bacterial plasmid integrates itself in another bacteria's (host) genome through homologous recombination but my question is why do we call these ...
Anindya's user avatar
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Why are there different species of bacteria?

The usual (high school or intro to bio) explanation for diversification of species comes from multicellular, usually sexually reproducing organisms, and seems to be closely tied to the biological ...
Hans's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Virus-to-virus gene transfer via "sequences integrated into a common host organism"

From "Risks from GMOs due to Horizontal Gene Transfer", by Paul Keese: In addition to direct HGT between organisms as depicted in Figure 1, forms of indirect HGT have been observed, which involve ...
CopperKettle's user avatar
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A trivial question on the meaning of "relatives" in an article on horizontal gene transfer

Am I right in suggesting that by close relatives the author meant closely related species, or did he have individual organisms in mind? DETECTION OF HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER There are ...
CopperKettle's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
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Horizontal gene transfer from humans

It is known that some viruses embed themselves in the human genome. Is there a mechanism by which human genes can be transferred to other animals or plants by means of viruses shuttling them from ...
Anixx's user avatar
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Drosophila biarmipes gene annotation, transposable element?

When doing an annotation of a contig31 of Drosophila biarmipes genome, the gene predictions(in orange, red, green, tan, blue, brown, and gray) picked up numerous possible genes in the area circled in ...
Ro Siv's user avatar
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Horizontal Gene Transfer

I understand the different ways bacteria can undergo horizontal gene transfer (transformation, transduction (phages), conjugation (plasmids)). Is there an experimental method to tell how a specific ...
Soph's user avatar
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Multicellular organisms as DNA banks

Animal -> bacterial gene transfer seems easier than bacteria -> animal (rotifers are an interesting exception); there are bacteria live in close contact to us but our germ-line cells are protected. ...
Kevin Kostlan's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
362 views

Does conjugation support gene selection?

I have already posted this on chat but haven't got any response. A recent question on group selection stimulated me to ask this here. QUESTIONS: Why should bacteria conjugate? If we consider that a ...
biogirl's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
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Can an organism obtaining a part of its genome via horizontal gene transfer be called a "hybrid"?

Wikipedia definition of "hybrid" offers many competing definitions. But most seem to be centered on sexual-reproduction gene transfer. Is there an official (in a textbook or widely accepted peer ...
DVK's user avatar
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10 votes
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What advantage would the initial 'donor' in horizontal gene transfer by conjugation have received?

I am struggling to think why horizontal gene transfer between bacteria would have persisted during the course of evolution as surely it puts the 'donor' at a disadvantage? For example, consider a ...
Rory M's user avatar
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