Gene swap key to evolution

Gene swap key to evolution

A recent paper (Treangen, T.J. et al., “Horizontal Transfer, Not Duplication, Drives the Expansion of Protein Families in Prokaryotes,” PLoS Genetics, 7:e1101284, 2011.) shows that horizontal gene transfer (from one species to another) plays a much larger role in the evolution of protein families in bacteria than was previously thought. This link is to a news piece in The Scientist, but you can find the original at PLoS Genetics.