An ocean of diffusible information

Trends Genet. 2024 Feb 2:S0168-9525(24)00007-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.01.007. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIn the ocean, free-living bacteria exist in a dilute world where direct physical interactions between cells are relatively rare. How then do they exchange genetic information via horizontal gene transfer (HGT)? Lücking et al. have explored the world of marine 'protected extracellular DNA' (peDNA), and find that extracellular vesicles (EVs) are likely to play an important role.PMID:38310066 | DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2024.01.007

Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - February 3, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Ashley M Stein Steven J Biller Source Type: research