Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) involves the transmission of genetic material between distinct evolutionary lineages and can be an important source of biological innovation. For instance, the acquisition of foreign genes can allow recipient organisms to adapt to new lifestyles or to exploit a novel ecological niche, such as a host environment. HGT has long been recognised as an important factor contributing to the evolution of prokaryotic lineages especially in connection to the evolution of pathogencity [1,2]. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that HGT has also played a role in the evolution of pathogenic traits in eukaryotes [3,4]. Here, we consider how HGT has contributed to genome evolution in the oomycetes.
Highlights
This placement in the tree of life implies that the oomycetes are descended from both a phagotrophic and photosynthetic ancestor [6]
Table and S2 Table) and that held up to scrutiny when reanalysed using comparative genomic and phylogenetic methods
33 of the 48 (69%) of the Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) gene families encode putatively secreted proteins (Fig 1C). These data demonstrate that HGT has had a major impact upon the evolution of the secretomes of oomycetes, the plant pathogenic Phytophthora spp
Summary
Citation: Savory F, Leonard G, Richards TA (2015) The Role of Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Evolution of the Oomycetes. PLoS Pathog 11(5): e1004805. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1004805 Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this study. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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