Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25143190›Full record

ReviewBioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology2014

Horizontal transfer of short and degraded DNA has evolutionary implications for microbes and eukaryotic sexual reproduction.

Søren Overballe-Petersen, Eske Willerslev

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Visualization is crucial for understanding microbial processes in the ocean.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Søren Overballe-PetersenCentre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Eske Willerslev
University of Copenhagen · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Horizontal gene transfer in the form of long DNA fragments has changed our view of bacterial evolution. Recently, we discovered that such processes may also occur with the massive amounts of short and damaged DNA in the environment, and even with truly ancient DNA. Although it presently remains unclear how often it takes place in nature, horizontal gene transfer of short and damaged DNA opens up the possibility for genetic exchange across distinct species in both time and space. In this essay, we speculate on the potential evolutionary consequences of this phenomenon. We argue that it may challenge basic assumptions in evolutionary theory; that it may have distant origins in life's history; and that horizontal gene transfer should be viewed as an evolutionary strategy not only preceding but causally underpinning the evolution of sexual reproduction.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionGene Transfer, HorizontalAnimalsBacteriaDNADNA DamageEukaryotaHumansReproductionDNAanachronistic evolutionevolutionhorizontal gene transfermeiosisnatural transformationsexual reproductionshort and degraded DNA

Identifiers

PMID25143190
PMCPMC4255686
OpenAlexW1570692482

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.