Horizontally Acquired Genes Are Often Shared between Closely Related Bacterial Species.

ABSTRACT: Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) serves as an important source of innovation for bacterial species. We used a pangenome-based approach to identify genes that were horizontally acquired by four closely related bacterial species, belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. This enabled us to examine the extent to which such closely related species tend to share horizontally acquired genes. We find that a high percent of horizontally acquired genes are shared among these closely related species. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the extent of sharing of horizontally acquired genes among these four closely related species is predictive of the extent to which these genes will be found in additional bacterial species. Finally, we show that acquired genes shared by more species tend to be bet

SUBMITTER: Bolotin E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5575156 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature