Bacterial conjugation, also referred to as bacterial sex, is a major horizontal gene transfer
mechanism through which DNA is transferred from a donor to a recipient bacterium by direct …

Anelloviruses are small, single stranded circular DNA viruses. They are extremely diverse
and have not been associated with any disease so far. Strikingly, these small entities infect …

Single-stranded (ss) DNA viruses are a major component of the earth virome. In particular,
the circular, Rep-encoding ssDNA (CRESS-DNA) viruses show high diversity and …

In the type III CRISPR–Cas immune response of prokaryotes, infection triggers the
production of cyclic oligoadenylates that bind and activate proteins that contain a CARF …

Conjugation is a contact-dependent mechanism for the transfer of plasmid DNA between
bacterial cells, which contributes to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Here, we use …

The impact of transposable elements (TEs) on the evolution of the eukaryote genome has
been observed in a number of biological processes, such as the recruitment of the host's …

Plasmids are extrachromosomal genetic elements that often encode fitness-enhancing
features. However, many bacteria carry" cryptic" plasmids that do not confer clear beneficial …

RNA-catalyzed RNA replication is widely considered a key step in the emergence of life's
first genetic system. However, RNA replication can be impeded by the extraordinary stability …

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-
associated (Cas) system provides a groundbreaking genetic technology that allows …

Abstract CRISPR-Cas12a (Cpf1) is a bacterial RNA-guided nuclease that cuts double-
stranded DNA (dsDNA) at sites specified by a CRISPR RNA (crRNA) guide. Additional …