Researchers used new, long-read genetic sequencing technology to show that there are bacterial genomes within the genome of one species of fruit fly. This discovery seems to be the largest known ...

Gene transfer agents (GTAs) are unique, phage‐like particles produced by various Alphaproteobacteria that mediate the horizontal transfer of genetic material. Unlike conventional bacteriophages, GTAs ...

James Chappell, associate professor of biosciences and bioengineering at Rice University. In the microscopic world of bacteria, gene transfer is a powerful mechanism that can alter cellular function, ...

In the microscopic world of bacteria, gene transfer is a powerful mechanism that can alter cellular function, drive antibiotic resistance and even shape entire ecosystems. Now an interdisciplinary ...

New research shows that one fruit fly species contains whole genomes of a kind of bacteria, making this finding the largest bacteria-to-animal transfer of genetic material ever discovered. The new ...

New research shows that a large, ubiquitous mobile genetic element changes the antagonistic weaponry of Bacteroides fragilis, a common bacterium of the human gut. Bacteria evolve rapidly in the human ...

A recent study has unveiled how plants and bacteria exchange genes to boost plant health and development. The team discovered 75 genes that were transferred between small, fast-growing plants ...

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 ...

Bacteria evolve rapidly in the human gut by sharing genetic elements with each other. Bacteriodales is a prolific order of gut bacteria that trade hundreds of genetic elements. Little is known, ...