Month: September 2022

HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER. "The transduction frequency varied over orders of magnitude from 10(-8) to 10(-5) per virus...there might be up to 100 transductants l(-1) day(-1) or up to 1.3 × 10(14) transductants per year in Tampa Bay." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

HGT RATE. "We estimated 10(13) transductants per year in the Mediterranean basin." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

INTER VS INTRA. "Gene transfer within species should slow down diversification by increasing genetic similarity. This may result in higher standing stocks of (more or less) identical genomes and thus in a higher survival chance depending on the stability of the environment. Gene transfer across species and genus barriers should promote adaptation and increase diversity." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

CROSS-GENUS. "The most surprising results, however, were reported for auxotrophic E. coli cells, to which amino acid prototrophy could be transferred by marine phages at the extremely high rates of up to 2.6 × 10(-3) per virus. Although it is often assumed that phages do not trespass the genus barrier, this concept has been questioned." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

MECHANISM LARGELY UNKNOWN. "Although we only know a little about the detailed mechanisms, it seems likely that viruses shape the standing stock and fluxes of genetically encoded information. This should influence the ecology as well as the evolution of species." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

GLOBAL DNA POOL. "In the theory of genetic mosaicism, dsDNA phages have access to the global phage DNA pool by lateral gene transfer. This access is not uniform, e.g. because of host range barriers, thus representing ‘…a sort of random walk through phylogenetic space’." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

SUPERORGANISM. "On account of a viral linkage to the tree of life, it is maybe more appropriate to regard all microorganisms including viruses as a ‘superorganism’ or part of a global DNA pool, which can in principle be accessed by all species." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

KINGDOM CROSSING. "Large DNA viruses called chlorovirus which usually only infect algae are capable of jumping kingdoms and affecting our behavior and cognition by interacting with our genes. Throat swabs from psychiatric patients contained ATCV-1 DNA, which when injected into mice they cause deficits of memory and attention during maze tasks. These genes comprised pathways related to synaptic plasticity, learning, memory formation, and the immune response to viral exposure." https://lnkd.in/b-9Ei4h View in LinkedIn

"THE MODULAR ORGANIZATION of biochemical pathways in the genome of prokaryotes is a prerequisite for successful gene transfer. Entire functions can be exchanged by a single transfer event." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE. We live in an Information Age, where information can be widely programmed. We now also live in an age of programmable life, as synthetic biology is illustrating: biological molecules as cut-and-paste modules; mobile genetic elements transferring genetic information seemingly without significant limits. This viewpoint on biological systems has enormous ramifications and is the topic of this next couple of weekends. View in LinkedIn