Automated bioinformatic analysis of vertical and lateral gene transmission among microbial genomes

遗传信息在物种内从父母“垂直”地传递给后代。长期以来，生物学家一直认为，这种外推到过去的机制解释了基因在基因组中的分布，从而解释了所有现象的潜在特性。但基因组序列显示，一些，也许是许多，基因在物种之间“横向”传播。我们正在建立一个独特的基于计算机的自动化系统，使用严格的方法在所有微生物基因组中找到所有横向传播的实例。我们的研究结果将具有重要的基础和实际意义，例如在解释表型性状的集合和动态，以及量化“自然基因工程”的背景水平方面。

Genetic information is transmitted "vertically" from parents to offspring within species. Biologists have long assumed that this mechanism, extrapolated far into the past, explains the distribution of genes among genomes, thus the potential properties of all phenomes. But genome sequences show that some, perhaps many, genes have been transmitted "laterally" between species. We are building a unique automated computer-based system to find all instances of lateral transmission in all microbial genomes, using rigorous methods. Our results will be important both fundamentally and practically, e.g. in explaining sets and dynamics of phenomic traits, and quantifying background levels of "natural genetic engineering".