The contribution of horizontal gene transfer to evolution has been controversial since it was
suggested to be a force driving evolution in the microbial world. In this paper, I review the …

The phylum Actinobacteria harbors many important human pathogens and also provides
one of the richest sources of natural products, including numerous antibiotics and other …

Abstract Background The Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis is an ecologically
and economically relevant edible marine bivalve, highly invasive and resilient to biotic and …

Lateral gene transfer is of fundamental importance to the evolution of prokaryote genomes
and has important practical consequences, as evidenced by the rapid dissemination of …

Bacterial populations harbor vast genetic diversity that is continually shaped by abiotic and
biotic selective pressures, as well as by neutral processes. Individuals coexisting in the …

Elevated levels of genetic drift are hypothesized to be a dominant factor that influences
genome size evolution across all life-forms. However, increased levels of drift appear to be …

Symbiosis between organisms is an important driving force in evolution. Among the diverse
relationships described, extensive progress has been made in insect–bacteria symbiosis …

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) profoundly shapes the evolution of bacterial lineages. LGT
across disparate phylogenetic groups and genome content diversity between related …

Bacterial species concepts are controversial. More widely accepted is the need to
understand how differences in gene content and sequence lead to ecological divergence …

The class Mollicutes (trivial name" mycoplasma") is composed of wall-less bacteria with
reduced genomes whose evolution was long thought to be only driven by gene losses …