Highways of gene sharing in prokaryotes
Abstract
The extent to which lateral genetic transfer has shaped microbial genomes has major implications for the emergence of community structures. We have performed a rigorous phylogenetic analysis of >220,000 proteins from genomes of 144 prokaryotes to determine the contribution of gene sharing to current prokaryotic diversity, and to identify "highways" of sharing between lineages. The inferred relationships suggest a pattern of inheritance that is largely vertical, but with notable exceptions among closely related taxa, and among distantly related organisms that live in similar environments.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- October 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.0504068102
- Bibcode:
- 2005PNAS..10214332B
- Keywords:
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- EVOLUTION