Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has a crucial role in microbial evolution, in shaping the structure and function of microbial communities and in controlling a myriad of environmental and public-health problems. Here, Barth F. Smets and Tamar Barkay assess the importance of HGT and place the selection of articles in this Focus issue in context.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the US National Science Foundation (BES pogramme) and the US Department of Energy (NABIR programme) for support of research on HGT in their laboratories. This article and special issue were inspired by a workshop on 'Horizontal Gene Flow in Microbial Communities' that was co-chaired by the authors in Warrenton, Virginia, USA, in June 2004, and sponsored by the National Science Foundation (MO/MIP programme) and the Department of Energy (NABIR programme). These agencies, as well as the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Astrobiology Programme) provided gracious support to the production of this issue.
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Smets, B., Barkay, T. Horizontal gene transfer: perspectives at a crossroads of scientific disciplines. Nat Rev Microbiol 3, 675–678 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1253
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1253