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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 reviewed work) definition of a "hybrid"/"hybridization" that would clearly include ANY genetic mixing, most specifically obtaining genes via horizontal gene transfer?

If not, is it specifically because "hybrid" requires sexual reproduction, or merely because it requires a certain minimal amount of inherited genetic material from both sides, and horisontal genetic transfer in practice involves significantly less genetic material being inherited?

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    $\begingroup$ Full transparency: the question originated on SFF StackExchange, pertaining to whether Alien chestburster can legitimately be called a "hybrid" from a biology point of view, on the basis of it obtaining a variety of phenotypal features of the host body via horizontal-gene-transfer. It's mostly a definition issue. $\endgroup$
    – DVK
    Commented Aug 18, 2012 at 21:11

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As you point out, there isn't a singularly accepted biological defnition of 'hybrid.' The most basic would be a single organism that exhibits traits of two individual organisms, but that will find perfectly acceptable disagreement depending on who you talk to. You, for instance, are human - but a hybrid of your parents' genomes.

So I would personally say that horizontal gene transfer is equivalent to gene inheritance, and that as long as the organism exhibited traits of both 'parent' individuals - then yes, it is a hybrid. Some might include that even if it didn't exhibit traits and merely contained the genes in any inherited genomic data that the hybrid label would be appropriate.

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    $\begingroup$ I'm looking for definitions that could be considered "legit". Textbooks, or barring that, widely respected/cited paper; that explicitly defines "hybrid" as inclusive of H.G.T. (or rather not exclusive of it). E.g. where the end result (gene mix) is relevant as opposed to mechanism of mixing. $\endgroup$
    – DVK
    Commented Aug 19, 2012 at 1:11

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