Horizontal Gene Transfer
Reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2808
Synonyms
Definition
In this process, an organism transfers its genetic material to another cell that is not its offspring. The horizontal transfer of genetic material was originally detected in prokaryotes, but recent data show that it occurs not only in unicellular but also in multicellular eukaryotes and might be an important evolutionary mechanism.
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© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011