Scientific review demonstrates horizontal gene transfer drives genomic plasticity and rapid adaptation in bacteria, highlighting its central role in microbial evolutionary dynamics.
Bacterial genome evolution is a highly dynamic process influenced not only by spontaneous mutations and vertical inheritance but also by the acquisition and exchange of genetic material between bacterial cells. Horizontal gene transfer represents one of the major mechanisms responsible for increasing bacterial genomic plasticity and accelerating adaptive evolution.
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Akmalovich et al. (2026) studied this question.
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