Bacteria Can Quickly Swap Genes With Each Other Through A Global Network
Bacteria swap genetic information as readily as people can share digital data - there are no cultural, political or systemic boundaries, according to a new study. Researchers say they have identified a massive gene network that facilitates the transfer of 10,000 unique genes among 2,235 bacterial genomes, across international borders and across species. Bacteria use horizontal gene transfer to confer and acquire genetic traits - it's one way in which bacteria can select for traits desirable to them, but undesirable to humans, like antibiotic resistance. But horizontal gene transfer has never been seen on this scale or at this pace, the researchers say. Researchers led by Eric Alm of MIT wanted to examine the mechanisms underlying rapidly evolving antibiotic resistance and bacterial virulence. They used a computer model to search for recent gene transfers among thousands of microbial genomes, and found huge chunks of DNA in very distantly separated samples - "We...