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New page: '''Horizontal gene transfer''' ('''HGL'''), also called '''Lateral gene transfer''' ('''LGT'''), is the process of transfering genetic material between different species, or across broad t...
'''Horizontal gene transfer''' ('''HGL'''), also called '''Lateral gene transfer''' ('''LGT'''), is the process of transfering genetic material between different species, or across broad taxonomic categories.

==Main mechanisms of gene transfer in prokaryotes==

HGT between distant microbial phyla is mediated by [[bacteriophages]], [[plasmids]], [[transposons]], and specialized cellular DNA uptake mechanisms. These mechanisms usually categorized with the following commonly used technical terms:

* '''Bacterial transformation''' , the genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the introduction, uptake and expression of foreign genetic material, generally [[DNA]] (see this [http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/biology/archive/animations/hires/a_infect3_h.html animation with audio explanation]). This process is relatively common in certain naturally transformable bacteria, such as the soil bacterium ''Bacillus subtilis''. Transformation is often used as a biotechnology to insert novel genes into bacteria for scientific research experiments, or for industrial or medical applications.
* '''Transduction''', the process in which bacterial DNA is moved from one bacterium to another by a bacterial virus (a bacteriophage, commonly called a phage).
* '''Bacterial conjugation''' ( or mating), a process in which a living bacterial cell transfers genetic material through direct cell-to-cell contact (see the animation [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/trun/artwork/Animations/conjugation/conjugation.html conjugation in ''Escherichia coli'']).

==Main mechanisms of gene transfer in eukaryotes==
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