Experimental determination of evolutionary barriers to horizontal gene transfer.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Horizontal gene transfer, the acquisition of genes across species boundaries, is a major source of novel phenotypes that enables microbes to rapidly adapt to new environments. How the transferred gene alters the growth - fitness - of the new host affects the success of the horizontal gene transfer event and how rapidly the gene spreads in the population. Several selective barriers - factors that impact the fitness effect of the transferred gene - have been suggested to impede the likelihood of horizontal transmission, however experimental evidence is scarce. The objective of this study was to determine the fitness effects of orthologous genes transferred from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium to Escherichia coli to identify the selective barriers using highly preci

SUBMITTER: Acar Kirit H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7592521 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature