ArticleGenome biology2015
Expression of multiple horizontally acquired genes is a hallmark of both vertebrate and invertebrate genomes.
Article in Genome biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 124 papers.
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124 citing papers in PubMed, 271 citations in OpenAlex.
- Paralogous guanine deaminases acquired from bacteria by horizontal gene transfer promote purine homeostasis inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Unique Tunicate Traits Possibly Encoded by Horizontally Transferred Genes.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- A compendium of horizontal gene transfers in Metazoa.Scientific data · 2026Article
- A machine learning framework for interpreting phylogenetic tree patterns in interkingdom horizontal gene transfer.Frontiers in bioinformatics · 2026Article
- Silica Nanoparticles Block Natural Genetic Transformation inACS omega · 2025Article
- The eukaryotic horizontal gene transfer dataset a compendium.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Origin and Evolution of Genes in Eukaryotes: Mechanisms, Dynamics, and Functional Implications.Genes · 2025Review
- Article
- Functional Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes Acquired by Horizontal Gene Transfer from Plants in the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Are Viruses Taxonomic Units? A Protein Domain and Loop-Centric Phylogenomic Assessment.Viruses · 2024Review
- Horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotes: aligning theory with data.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2024Review
- Evolutionary analysis reveals the role of a non-catalytic domain of peptidyl arginine deiminase 2 in transcriptional regulation.iScience · 2024Article
- Evolutionarily related host and microbial pathways regulate fat desaturation in C. elegans.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Acquired stress resilience through bacteria-to-nematode interdomain horizontal gene transfer.The EMBO journal · 2023Article
- Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetases in Animals.Genes · 2023Review
- Bacterial origin of a key innovation in the evolution of the vertebrate eye.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Horizontally transferred genes as RNA interference targets for aphid and whitefly control.Plant biotechnology journal · 2023Article
- HGTphyloDetect: facilitating the identification and phylogenetic analysis of horizontal gene transfer.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2023Article
- The Contribution of Actinobacteria to the Degradation of Chlorinated Compounds: Variations in the Activity of Key Degradation Enzymes.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Evolutionary Overview of Aquaporin Superfamily.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
64 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA fundamental concept in biology is that heritable material, DNA, is passed from parent to offspring, a process called vertical gene transfer. An alternative mechanism of gene acquisition is through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which involves movement of genetic material between different species. HGT is well-known in single-celled organisms such as bacteria, but its existence in higher organisms, including animals, is less well established, and is controversial in humans.
resultsWe have taken advantage of the recent availability of a sufficient number of high-quality genomes and associated transcriptomes to carry out a detailed examination of HGT in 26 animal species (10 primates, 12 flies and four nematodes) and a simplified analysis in a further 14 vertebrates. Genome-wide comparative and phylogenetic analyses show that HGT in animals typically gives rise to tens or hundreds of active 'foreign' genes, largely concerned with metabolism. Our analyses suggest that while fruit flies and nematodes have continued to acquire foreign genes throughout their evolution, humans and other primates have gained relatively few since their common ancestor. We also resolve the controversy surrounding previous evidence of HGT in humans and provide at least 33 new examples of horizontally acquired genes.
conclusionsWe argue that HGT has occurred, and continues to occur, on a previously unsuspected scale in metazoans and is likely to have contributed to biochemical diversification during animal evolution.
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