EvolutionLesson 4 of 5 in the course Molecular evolution

Horizontal Gene Transfer: Mechanisms, Detection, and Evolutionary Effects

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

This lesson introduces horizontal gene transfer (HGT), explains how it differs from inheritance from parent to offspring, and traces key discoveries that established it as an evolutionary process.

Horizontal gene transfer, also called lateral gene transfer (LGT), is the movement of genetic material between organisms other than through reproduction from parent to offspring. By contrast, vertical gene transfer passes DNA from parents to their descendants.

All flashcards

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT)
Movement of genetic material between organisms by a route other than parent-to-offspring inheritance.
Vertical gene transfer
Transmission of genetic material from parents to their offspring.
Horizontal transposon transfer (HTT)
Movement of transposable elements between genomes outside parent-to-offspring inheritance.
NUMTs
Nuclear DNA sequences derived from mitochondrial DNA.
NUPTs
Nuclear DNA sequences derived from plastid DNA.

Quiz questions

  1. What do parametric methods look for when identifying candidate horizontal gene transfers?Answer: Unusual sequence features compared with the recipient genome.
  2. What do phylogenetic methods compare to identify possible horizontal gene transfer?Answer: The evolutionary history of a gene and its host.
  3. What does horizontal gene transfer imply about the last universal common ancestor (LUCA)?Answer: It does not rule out common ancestry, though individual genes may have different histories.
  4. A bacterium acquires an antibiotic-resistance gene. What role can natural selection play afterward?Answer: Antibiotic exposure can favor the survival and reproduction of bacteria carrying the gene.
  5. Experiments find that a compound increases resistance-gene transfer in a particular setting. What conclusion is justified?Answer: The finding may depend on the experimental context and needs further study in other settings.

Based on the Wikipedia article Horizontal gene transfer, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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