Bacteria acquire novel DNA through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), a process that enables
an organism to rapidly adapt to changing environmental conditions, provides a competitive …

In biological systems, evolutionary innovations can spread not only from parent to offspring
(ie vertical transmission), but also 'horizontally'between individuals, who may or may not be …

Despite recent advances in metagenomic binning, reconstruction of microbial species from
metagenomics data remains challenging. Here we develop variational autoencoders for …

Horizontal or Lateral Gene Transfer (HGT or LGT) is the transmission of portions of genomic
DNA between organisms through a process decoupled from vertical inheritance. In the …

To what extent is the tree of life the best representation of the evolutionary history of
microorganisms? Recent work has shown that, among sets of prokaryotic genomes in which …

Metagenomic methods enable the simultaneous characterization of microbial communities
without time-consuming and bias-inducing culturing. Metagenome-assembled genome …

The genomic GC-content of bacteria varies dramatically, from less than 20% to more than
70%. This variation is generally ascribed to differences in the pattern of mutation between …

In addition to the main chromosome, approximately one in ten bacterial genomes have a
'second chromosome'or 'megaplasmid'. Here, we propose that these represent a single …

In the rhizosphere, exudates from plants and microorganisms as well as stable soil organic
matter influence processes that can control plant growth, microbial infections, and nutrient …

Background Rhizobium leguminosarum is an α-proteobacterial N 2-fixing symbiont of
legumes that has been the subject of more than a thousand publications. Genes for the …