lateral gene transfer, genetics & genomics

Sequences for the model organism and two of its kin reveal how these plants got their oversized genomes.

Jumping genes in bdelloid rotifers are tamped down by DNA methylation performed by an enzyme pilfered from bacteria roughly 60 million years ago, a study finds.

The plant Lophophytum pilfers mitochondrial genes from the species it parasitizes.

Researchers find evidence of antibiotic resistance genes in the DNA of viruses that infect bacteria.

In the DNA of the WO phage, which infects arthropod-inhabiting Wolbachia, researchers find sequences related to a black widow spider’s toxin and other animal genes.

Bacteria inhabit most tissues in the human body, and genes from some of these microbes have made their way to the human genome. Could this genetic transfer contribute to diseases such as cancer?

Meet some of the people featured in the September 2013 issue of The Scientist.

From therapeutics to gene transfer, bacteriophages offer a sustainable and powerful method of controlling microbes.

Bacteriophages shuttle genes between diverse ecosystems.