Horizontal gene transfer: a critical view
Author
Summary, in English
It has been suggested that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the "essence of phylogeny." In contrast, much data suggest that this is an exaggeration resulting in part from a reliance on inadequate methods to identify HGT events. In addition, the assumption that HGT is a ubiquitous influence throughout evolution is questionable. Instead, rampant global HGT is likely to have been relevant only to primitive genomes. In modern organisms we suggest that both the range and frequencies of HGT are constrained most often by selective barriers. As a consequence those HGT events that do occur most often have little influence on genome phylogeny. Although HGT does occur with important evolutionary consequences, classical Darwinian lineages seem to be the dominant mode of evolution for modern organisms.
Department/s
Publishing year
2003
Language
English
Pages
9658-9662
Publication/Series
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
100
Issue
17
Document type
Journal article review
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
Research group
- Microbial Ecology
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1091-6490