Abstract
Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the transmission of genes, sometimes across species barriers, outwith the classic vertical inheritance from parent to offspring. LGT is recognized as an important phenomenon that has shaped the genomes and biology of prokaryotes. Whether LGT in eukaryotes is important and widespread remains controversial. A study in BMC Biology concludes that LGT in eukaryotes is neither continuous nor prevalent and suggests a rule of thumb for judging when apparent LGT may reflect contamination.See research article: http://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-016-0315-9.
Highlights
Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the transmission of genes, sometimes across species barriers, outwith the classic vertical inheritance from parent to offspring
The model bacterium Escherichia coli is a good illustration of the plasticity of bacterial gene repertoires due to gene acquisition via LGT and differential loss
There has been no report of abundant eukaryote to eukaryote LGT to date (Fig. 1)
Summary
Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the transmission of genes, sometimes across species barriers, outwith the classic vertical inheritance from parent to offspring. Have LGT of prokaryotic origin significantly contributed to current eukaryotic genes sets? The extent of prokaryotic LGT to eukaryotes is the question that Ku and Martin decided to tackle in their recent article in BMC Biology [8].
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