Unlike crown eukaryotic species, microbial species are created by continual processes of
gene loss and acquisition promoted by horizontal genetic transfer. The amounts of foreign …

In recent years, the importance of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in bacterial evolution has
been elevated to such a degree that many bacteriologists now question the very existence of …

Bacteria experience recombination in two ways. In the context of the Biological Species
concept, allelic exchange purges genic variability within bacterial populations as gene …

Studies in microbial evolution have focused on the origin and vertical transmission of
genetic variation within populations experiencing limited recombination. Genomic analyses …

Despite significant frequencies of lateral gene transfer between species, higher taxonomic
groups of bacteria show ecological and phenotypic cohesion. This suggests that barriers …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is arguably the most conspicuous feature of bacterial
evolution. Evidence for HGT is found in most bacterial genomes. Although HGT can …

A full accounting of ecological diversity in the bacterial world will no doubt require genome-
based and sequence-based approaches. Because only a small fraction of bacterial species …

Bacterial genomes are extremely dynamic and mosaic in nature. A substantial amount of
genetic information is inserted into or deleted from such genomes through the process of …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is an important evolutionary process that allows the spread
of innovations between distantly related organisms. We present evidence that prokaryotes …

Although Bacteria and Archaea reproduce by binary fission, exchange of genes among
lineages has shaped the diversity of their populations and the diversification of their …