BioRep-HGT: Bio-reporting horizontal gene transfer. An experimental tool that eliminates selection-dependency

Horizontal gene transfer is a fundamental process in bacterial evolution. Here genes from phylogenetically distinct bacteria are readily exchanged. The rise of antibiotic resistance among infectious bacteria is a scary example of how bacteria evolve by exchanging genes. Horizontal gene transfer is mediated by mobile genetic elements, especially plasmids. Yet, little is known about what kind of genes are transferred horizontally by plasmids, because isolation of plasmids currently depends on pre-specified selection criteria. The BioRep-HGT project will develop bio-reporters that will report horizontal transfer and enable isolation of plasmids regardless of what genes they carry, thus circumventing the selection bias. Such novel bio-reporters will advance research on horizontal gene transfer and consequently bacterial evolution immensely.