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

遗传信息在物种内从父母向后代“垂直”传递。生物学家长期以来一直认为，这一机制可以解释基因在基因组中的分布，从而解释所有物候组的潜在特性。但基因组序列显示，一些，也许是许多，基因已经在物种之间“横向”传递。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，找到所有微生物基因组中的所有横向传播实例。我们的结果将从根本上和实践上都是重要的，例如，在解释表观性状的集合和动态，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".