UCSD Horizontal Gene Transfer Discussion

Hello, I would like you to follow the instructions as carful as you can and all the work should be in your own words.

This class is Microbiology class:

Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) is a dominant force in the evolution of genomes, providing diverse metabolic, catabolic, anabolic, and physiological functions to recipient cells. One common example is the spread of plasmids harboring antibiotic resistance genes among bacterial cells in a population, a nefarious reality that has contributed to the emergence of “superbugs” with enhanced pathogenicity that has hampered our ability to fight multidrug resistant strains in the clinic. Other examples are less dire and include ecologically favorable outcomes such as the spread of genes that are involved in the catabolism or break down of environmental contaminants such as pesticides in agricultural soils. And many more!

Identify one example of a horizontally transferred gene (or genes) that has resulted in some new phenotype for recipient cells. Provide a brief 3 or 4 sentence summary of this example and why it is significant. Start your search by thinking about relevance (medicine, human health, industry, ecology, etc.). In addition to the primary scientific literature, popular press and news articles abound with examples…

Thank you so much!