Author:

Keywords:

Ecology, Ecosystem, Environment, Gene Transfer, Horizontal, Genes, Bacterial, Phylogeny, Water Microbiology, Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Science & Technology - Other Topics, General Science & Technology

Abstract:

Environments and their organic content are generally not static and isolated, but in a constant state of exchange and interaction with each other. Through physical or biological processes, organisms, especially microbes, may be transferred between environments whose characteristics may be quite different. The transferred microbes may not survive in their new environment, but their DNA will be deposited. In this study, we compare two environmental sequencing projects to find molecular evidence of transfer of microbes over vast geographical distances.