Evidence of a newly identified mechanism of horizontal gene transfer raises important questions about how evolution works.

The recognition of the phenomenon known as horizontal (or lateral) gene transfer (HGT/LGT) revolutionized our understanding of evolutionary mechanisms. Unlike the conventional vertical transmission of ...

Researchers at the Kiel Evolution Center have investigated for the first time in detail how a fungus important for biological plant protection can pass on an advantageous chromosome horizontally, ...

With more than 50,000 described species, the leaf beetle family is distributed worldwide and represents about a quarter of the species diversity of all herbivores. Leaf beetles can be found to feed on ...

Scientists explored the evolutionary success of leaf beetles, the most diverse herbivores on Earth. They showed that symbioses with bacteria have evolved repeatedly and independently in different ...

All living organisms are known to inherit genes, DNA sequences that contain instructions for producing specific proteins and ...

A new study has shown that virus-like transposons, called Mavericks, are responsible for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in nematodes. Researchers led by Alejandro Burga at the Austrian Academy of ...

The movement or acquisition of genetic material between organisms that is not the result of vertical inheritance (reproduction) is called horizontal (or lateral) gene transfer. Horizontal gene ...