To tree or not to tree? Genome-wide quantification of recombination and reticulate evolution during the diversification of strict intracellular bacteria.

ABSTRACT: It is well known that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a major force in the evolution of prokaryotes. During the adaptation of a bacterial population to a new ecological niche, and particularly for intracellular bacteria, selective pressures are shifted and ecological niches reduced, resulting in a lower rate of genetic connectivity. HGT and positive selection are therefore two important evolutionary forces in microbial pathogens that drive adaptation to new hosts. In this study, we use genomic distance analyses, phylogenomic networks, tree topology comparisons, and Bayesian inference methods to investigate to what extent HGT has occurred during the evolution of the genus Rickettsia, the effect of the use of different genomic regions in estimating reticulate evolution and HGT events, and

SUBMITTER: Hernandez-Lopez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3879967 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature