Antibiotics are powerful drugs used in the treatment of bacterial infections. The inappropriate
use of these medicines has driven the dissemination of antibiotic resistance (AR) in most …

Since the first genome-scale comparisons, it has been evident that the genomes of many
species are unbound by strict vertical descent: Large differences in gene content can occur …

Horizontal gene transfer, the exchange of genetic material through means other than
reproduction, is a fundamental force in prokaryotic genome evolution. Genomic persistence …

Plasmids mediate the horizontal transmission of genetic information between bacteria,
facilitating their adaptation to multiple environmental conditions. An especially important …

Metagenomic studies have shown that antibiotic resistance genes are ubiquitous in the
environment, which has led to the suggestion that there is a high risk that these genes will …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the movement of genetic material across branches of the
tree of life, is well established in prokaryotes and uncontroversial. This is explained in part …

The discovery of the Archaea and the proposal of the three-domains 'universal'tree, based
on ribosomal RNA and core genes mainly involved in protein translation, catalysed new …

Horizontal genetic transfer (HGT) has played an important role in bacterial evolution at least
since the origins of the bacterial divisions, and HGT still facilitates the origins of bacterial …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is one of the most important evolutionary forces within
microbial populations. Although evidence for beneficial fitness effects of HGT is …

Background A 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 …