Bacterial genomes are remarkably stable from one generation to the next but are plastic on
an evolutionary time scale, substantially shaped by horizontal gene transfer, genome …

The order Crassvirales comprises dsDNA bacteriophages infecting bacteria in the phylum
Bacteroidetes that are found in a variety of environments but are especially prevalent in the …

CrAssphage is the most abundant human-associated virus and the founding member of a
large group of bacteriophages, discovered in animal-associated and environmental …

The question whether or not “viruses are alive” has caused considerable debate over many
years. Yet, the question is effectively without substance because the answer depends …

The history of life is punctuated by evolutionary transitions which engender emergence of
new levels of biological organization that involves selection acting at increasingly complex …

The increase of publicly available sequencing data has allowed for rapid progress in our
understanding of genome composition. As new information becomes available we should …

Introns containing homing endonucleases are widespread in nature and have long been
assumed to be selfish elements that provide no benefit to the host organism. These genetic …

Buried within the genomes of many microorganisms are genetic elements that encode rare-
cutting homing endonucleases that assist in the mobility of the elements that encode them …

Fungal mitochondrial (mt) genomes exhibit great diversity in size which is partially attributed
to their variable intergenic regions and most importantly to the inclusion of introns within …

Introns are ubiquitous in eukaryotic genomes and have long been considered as 'junk
RNA'but the huge energy expenditure in their transcription, removal, and degradation …