Metacommunity structure preserves genome diversity in the presence of gene-specific selective sweeps under moderate rates of horizontal gene transfer.

ABSTRACT: The horizontal transfer of genes is fundamental for the eco-evolutionary dynamics of microbial communities, such as oceanic plankton, soil, and the human microbiome. In the case of an acquired beneficial gene, classic population genetics would predict a genome-wide selective sweep, whereby the genome spreads clonally within the community and together with the beneficial gene, removing genome diversity. Instead, several sources of metagenomic data show the existence of "gene-specific sweeps", whereby a beneficial gene spreads across a bacterial community, maintaining genome diversity. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this process, including the decreasing gene flow between ecologically distant populations, frequency-dependent selection from linked deleterious allelles, and v

SUBMITTER: Pompei S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10578598 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature