The DOI matches its Crossref record; 122 of the 123 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Horizontal gene transfer in evolution: facts and challenges
Open accessAbstract
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 current standpoint on horizontal gene transfer in evolutionary thinking and discuss how important horizontal gene transfer is in evolution in the broad sense, and particularly in prokaryotic evolution. I review recent literature, asking, first, which processes are involved in the evolutionary success of transferred genes and, secondly, about the extent of horizontal gene transfer towards different evolutionary times. Moreover, I discuss the feasibility of reconstructing ancient phylogenetic relationships in the face of horizontal gene transfer. Finally, I discuss how horizontal gene transfer fits in the current neo-Darwinian evolutionary paradigm and conclude there is a need for a new evolutionary paradigm that includes horizontal gene transfer as well as other mechanisms in the explanation of evolution.
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“Increased copper tolerance was reported to be mediated by a genomic amplification of CUP1, decreased basal levels of the copper transporters CTR2 and CCC2 and decreased activity of antioxidant enzymes [117,128].”
From Adaptive laboratory evolution—Principles and applications for biotechnology (2013) · cites this paper as [117]
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Intestinal microbiome of poultry and its interaction with host and diet
Pan, D., & Yu, Z. (2013) · Gut Microbes · doi:10.4161/gmic.26945 · Cited by 895
“”(122) It is mediated by processes such as conjugation, transformation, and transduction and is an effective mechanism which contributes to bacterial diversification and facilitates bacterial adaptation to new environments.(123,124) In modern poultry industry, litter, which contains bacteria excreted from chickens or…”
BackgroundAdaptive laboratory evolution—Principles and applications for biotechnology
Dragosits, M., & Mattanovich, D. (2013) · Microbial Cell Factories · doi:10.1186/1475-2859-12-64 · Cited by 827
“Nevertheless, the role of HGT in natural evolution remains a controversial topic [133].”
BackgroundFunctional roles of melatonin in plants, and perspectives in nutritional and agricultural science
Tan, D. X., Hardeland, R., Manchester, L. C., Korkmaz, A., Ma, S., Rosales‐Corral, S., & Reiter, R. J. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Botany · doi:10.1093/jxb/err256 · Cited by 627
“The origin of AANAT within bacteria is unknown and difficult to identify, since horizontal gene transfer is a frequent phenomenon among bacteria, and also between bacteria and other organisms, including archaea and eucarya (Boto, 2010; Smillie et al., 2010).”
BackgroundStokes, H. W., & Gillings, M. R. (2011) · FEMS Microbiology Reviews · doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2011.00273.x · Cited by 642
“However, most of this literature focuses on the implications of LGT for the evolution of microbial genomes (Boto, 2010) or on issues relating to microbial phylogeny and the relevance of the species concept as it applies to prokaryotes (Bapteste et al., 2009; Gribaldo & Brochier, 2009).”
BackgroundMaldonado-Gómez, M. X., Martínez, I., Bottacini, F., O’Callaghan, A., Ventura, M., van Sinderen, D., Hillmann, B., Vangay, P., Knights, D., Hutkins, R. W., et al. (2016) · Cell Host & Microbe · doi:10.1016/j.chom.2016.09.001 · Cited by 517
“Horizontal gene transfer can further lead to similar genetic information being shared among bacterial taxa that are not closely related, resulting in phylogenetically distant taxa with similar traits (Boto, 2010).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Boto, L.
- Affiliations
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Boto, Luis
- ORCID
- Boto, Luis
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2009-11-28
- Volume
- 277
- Issue
- 1683
- Pages
- 819-827
- ISSN
- 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
- 0962-8452
- 1471-2954
- PMC
- PMC2842723
- OpenAlex
- W2108923274
- Cited by
- 379
- References
- 123
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 1.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
- Keywords
- horizontal gene transfer, prokaryotic evolution, microbial evolution, phylogenetic inference, evolutionary processes, evolutionary timescales
- MeSH terms
- Archaea, Bacteria, Biological Evolution, Phylogeny, Gene Transfer, Horizontal
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