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How to Assess the Abundance and Diversity of Mobile Genetic Elements in Soil Bacterial Communities?

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Nucleic Acids and Proteins in Soil

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 8))

13.5 Conclusions

Evidence is mounting that MGE play an important role in the evolution and adaptability of bacterial species. The rapid accumulation of bacterial genome sequences and the development of powerful tools has allowed, and will continue to allow, new insights into the horizontal gene pool, i.e. the horizontally transferred genetic modules and their mobile genetic vehicles. Identification of the flexible part of bacterial genomes — in contrast to that part which is shared by most strains of a species — will clarify what the cohesive factors forming bacterial species are. The capacity of soil microorganisms to sample the horizontal gene pool provides bacteria with the ability to rapidly adapt to ever-changing environments and is a major driving force of microbial diversity in soil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Plant Virology, Microbiology and Biosafety, Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (BBA), Messeweg 11-12, 38104, Braunschweig, Germany

    Kornelia Smalla & Holger Heuer

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  1. Kornelia Smalla
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  2. Holger Heuer
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  1. Dipartimento della Scienza del Suolo e Nutrizione della Pianta, P.le delle Cascine 28, 50144, Firenze, Italy

    Paolo Nannipieri

  2. Institut für Pflanzenvirologie, Mikrobiologie und biologische Sicherheit, Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft (BBA), Messeweg 11/12, 38104, Braunschweig, Germany

    Kornelia Smalla

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Smalla, K., Heuer, H. (2006). How to Assess the Abundance and Diversity of Mobile Genetic Elements in Soil Bacterial Communities?. In: Nannipieri, P., Smalla, K. (eds) Nucleic Acids and Proteins in Soil. Soil Biology, vol 8. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg . https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-29449-X_13

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