Horizontal gene transfer in bdelloid rotifers is ancient, ongoing and more frequent in species from desiccating habitats.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although prevalent in prokaryotes, horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is rarer in multicellular eukaryotes. Bdelloid rotifers are microscopic animals that contain a higher proportion of horizontally transferred, non-metazoan genes in their genomes than typical of animals. It has been hypothesized that bdelloids incorporate foreign DNA when they repair their chromosomes following double-strand breaks caused by desiccation. HGT might thereby contribute to species divergence and adaptation, as in prokaryotes. If so, we expect that species should differ in their complement of foreign genes, rather than sharing the same set of foreign genes inherited from a common ancestor. Furthermore, there should be more foreign genes in species that desiccate more frequently. We tested these

SUBMITTER: Eyres I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4632278 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature