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Microorganisms

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT)

Horizontal gene transfer

Japanese: 水平伝播（水平遺伝子伝達）

The transfer of DNA directly between different species, rather than vertical inheritance from parent to offspring. Three modes exist: transformation, conjugation, and transduction.

Horizontal gene transfer is the passing of DNA between different microbial species, rather than from parent to offspring. Evolution does not proceed solely through vertical inheritance—in the microbial world, gene exchange across species boundaries occurs routinely.

Transformation (uptake of environmental DNA), conjugation (direct DNA transfer between cells), and transduction (DNA carried by phages)—these are the three major modes of horizontal transfer.

The rapid spread of antibiotic resistance genes among pathogens is due to horizontal transfer. Among fermentation microorganisms too, gene exchange may have occurred over their long history of coexistence.

Horizontal gene transfer shakes the boundaries of the concept of 'species.' In the microbial world, the tree of evolution may be closer to a web.

Related words

Bacteriophage

A general term for viruses that infect bacteria. They invade host bacteria, replicate, and destroy the cells. In the fermentation industry, they can devastate starter cultures.

Plasmid

Small circular DNA molecules that exist independently of the bacterial chromosome. They replicate autonomously and carry genes such as antibiotic resistance. Widely used as a fundamental tool in genetic engineering.

Genotype

The genetic constitution of an organism, the information in its DNA sequence. It contains the potential for phenotypic expression, but actual expression patterns change with environmental conditions.

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