Horizontal gene transfer
Movement of genetic material between organisms not via parent-to-offspring inheritance.
Horizontal gene transfer is the movement of genetic material between organisms other than parent-to-offspring transmission.[1] It is the primary mechanism for spreading antibiotic resistance in bacteria.[2]
Key facts and history
Horizontal genetic transfer was described in 1951 in a paper showing viral gene transfer into Corynebacterium diphtheriae created a virulent strain.[3] Grafting one plant to another can transfer chloroplasts, mitochondrial DNA, and the entire cell nucleus to potentially make a new species.[4] Molecular biologists such as Peter Gogarten have described horizontal gene transfer as "A New Paradigm for Biology".[5] Frederick Griffith's 1928 experiment provided the initial evidence that bacteria could exchange genetic information via transformation.[6]
A 1959 Japanese publication first documented the inter-bacterial transfer of antibiotic resistance between distinct bacterial species.[3] Human infection with Chagas disease, transmitted by assassin bug bites via a parasite, can result in the insertion of the parasite's DNA into the human genome.[4]
What the research sources say
Lwoff noted that when the prophage detaches, it can take bacterial genes with it, which are then reproduced by the bacteriophage's enzymes.[7] A 2016 New Scientist article reported that grafting has been used for millennia and likely created some plants we eat through unintentional genetic engineering.[8] The same article stated that cells can swap mitochondria across grafts, and the transferred nucleus can fuse with an existing cell nucleus, potentially creating a new species.[8] Ralph Bock of the Max Planck Institute described grafting as "genetic engineering done by mother nature".[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Horizontal gene transfer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Lateral gene transfer and the nature of bacterial innovation", Nature, May 2000, p. 299–304; "Horizontal gene transfer between bacteria and animals", Trends in Genetics, April 2011, p. 157–63; "A review of bacteria-animal lateral gene transfer may inform our understanding of diseases like cancer", PLOS Genetics, October 2013; "Horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotic evolution", Nature Reviews. Genetics, August 2008, p. 605–18; "Horizontally transferred genetic elements and their role in pathogenesis of bacterial disease", Veter en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Horizontal gene transfer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Horizontal gene transfer in the human gastrointestinal tract: potential spread of antibiotic resistance genes", Infection and Drug Resistance, 2014, p. 167–176; "Horizontally transferred genetic elements and their role in pathogenesis of bacterial disease", Veterinary Pathology, March 2014, p. 328–40; "Horizontal gene transfer in prokaryotes: quantification and classification", Annual Review of Microbiology, 2001, p. 709–42; "Barriers to horizontal gene transfer by natural transformation in soil bacteria", APMIS, 1998, p. 77–8 en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Horizontal gene transfer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Studies on the virulence of bacteriophage-infected strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae", Journal of Bacteriology, June 1951, p. 675–88; "Diphtheria", Rosen Publishing Group, 2005; "Interaction among Virus, Cell, and Organism", Nobel Lecture for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1965; "Inheritance of drug resistance (and its transfer) between Shigella strains and Between Shigella and E. coli strains", Hihon Iji Shimpor, 1959, p. 34; "On the mechanism of the development of multiple-drug-resistant clones of Shigella", en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Horizontal gene transfer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Farmers may have been accidentally making GMOs for millennia", The New Scientist, 2016-03-17; "Recurrent Domestication by Lepidoptera of Genes from Their Parasites Mediated by Bracoviruses", PLOS Genetics, September 2015; Hecht, "Inheritance of DNA Transferred from American Trypanosomes to Human Hosts", PLOS ONE, 12 February 2010; "Bacteria-human somatic cell lateral gene transfer is enriched in cancer samples", PLOS Computational Biology, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Horizontal gene transfer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Paradigm for Biology", Esalen Center for Theory and Research Conference, 2000 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Horizontal gene transfer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Significance of Pneumococcal Types", The Journal of Hygiene, January 1928, p. 113–59; "Bacterial gene transfer by natural genetic transformation in the environment", Microbiological Reviews, September 1994, p. 563–602; "Pneumococcal transformation--a backward view. Fourth Griffith Memorial Lecture", Journal of General Microbiology, November 1972, p. 1–11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Interaction among Virus, Cell, and Organism", Nobel Lecture for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1965. facts only, no text reused. nobelprize.org
- "Farmers may have been accidentally making GMOs for millennia", The New Scientist, 2016-03-17. facts only, no text reused. newscientist.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Horizontal gene transfer (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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