Giant Viruses Can Integrate into the Genomes of Their Hosts
Giant Viruses Can Integrate into the Genomes of Their Hosts
Rather than introducing small chunks of DNA as other viruses do, some giant viruses can contribute more than 1 million base pairs to a host’s genome, broadening the ways in which viruses may shape eukaryote evolution.
Giant Viruses Can Integrate into the Genomes of Their Hosts
Giant Viruses Can Integrate into the Genomes of Their Hosts

Rather than introducing small chunks of DNA as other viruses do, some giant viruses can contribute more than 1 million base pairs to a host’s genome, broadening the ways in which viruses may shape eukaryote evolution.

Rather than introducing small chunks of DNA as other viruses do, some giant viruses can contribute more than 1 million base pairs to a host’s genome, broadening the ways in which viruses may shape eukaryote evolution.

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horizontal gene transfer
Image of the Day: Beetle Evolution
Image of the Day: Beetle Evolution
Emily Makowski | Nov 19, 2019
Plants, fungi, and bacteria likely contributed to insect diversity.
Genes from Bacteria Likely Aided Plants’ Move to Land
Genes from Bacteria Likely Aided Plants’ Move to Land
Shawna Williams | Nov 15, 2019
An analysis suggests that DNA cribbed from soil microbes enabled plants’ ancestors to colonize a terrestrial environment.
Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bdelloid Rotifers Questioned
Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bdelloid Rotifers Questioned
Abby Olena | Jul 12, 2018
A re-analysis of sequencing data from a 2016 study of these tiny metazoans reveals possible contamination, rather than an exchange of DNA among species.
Fungus Repurposed a Bacterial Gene to Sense Gravity with Crystals
Fungus Repurposed a Bacterial Gene to Sense Gravity with Crystals
Viviane Callier | Apr 24, 2018
Rather than getting a gene for its original function, a horizontal gene transfer provides the raw material for evolutionary innovation.
The Unlikely Relationship Between a Brittle Star and a Sea Pansy
The Unlikely Relationship Between a Brittle Star and a Sea Pansy
Aggie Mika | Jul 16, 2017
The presence of similar light-emitting enzymes in the distantly related organisms lends new insight into bioluminescence evolution.
This Parasitic Plant Steals More Than Nutrients From Its Hosts
This Parasitic Plant Steals More Than Nutrients From Its Hosts
David Smith | Jan 31, 2017
The plant Lophophytum pilfers mitochondrial genes from the species it parasitizes.
Black Widow Secrets in Phage Genome
Black Widow Secrets in Phage Genome
Jef Akst | Oct 12, 2016
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 and Humans Have Been Swapping DNA for Millennia
Bacteria and Humans Have Been Swapping DNA for Millennia
Kelly Robinson and Julie Dunning Hotopp | Sep 30, 2016
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?
Lateral Gene Transfer in <em>Drosophila</em>
Lateral Gene Transfer in Drosophila
Kelly Robinson and Julie Dunning Hotopp | Sep 30, 2016
DNA transfer is a regular event among bacteria, and research over the past decade has shown that microbes can also shuttle their genetic material to multicellular hosts.